


Ma Petite Chère

by greengirl82



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Case Fic, Drama, F/M, Family Drama, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Stalking, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-22
Updated: 2013-02-11
Packaged: 2017-11-14 20:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 54,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/518988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greengirl82/pseuds/greengirl82
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been a few months since Hotch and Emily took in Amy, but now something has thrown the family through a loop... Epic sequel to Mon Petit</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bust A Move

"Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life!" Albert Einstein

* * *

Emily giggled as Hotch nipped at her neck while the two stood at the door step to their semi new home.

She couldn't believe how much had changed in the span of three months. And it all started with a tour group at the BAU.

"Stop that" the brunette murmured once Hotch's hands went from her hips trailing upwards towards the soft and smooth skin on her stomach.

"Can't... help... it" Hotch said as he peppered her neck with kisses, "You're just too damn intoxicating."

"I'd say you're drunk" Emily teased, turning around in his arms, "But then you're never one to drink on the job."

Giving her a dimpled grin, he dipped her giving her a passionate kiss, "I could say something cheesy, along the lines of I'm drunk on you..."

That made her burst out in laughter, "Well yeah that is pretty cheesy."

He pulled her back up, "But I'll reserve my actions until we get inside our house unless you're feeling voyeuristic."

"Not since college" she teased him, stealing the keys from his grasp, "Besides I think our children might not like hearing their parents going at it on the lawn like a couple of cats in heat."

Rubbing his arms, "You mean like Sergio?"

"My cat is not in heat" she said, shooting him a look, "He just doesn't like you."

Taking the keys from her, Hotch unlocked the door slowly pushing it opened, "Huh, that's odd."

"What is?" Emily asked, following him in only to bump into him, "Ow Aaron. Why is it so dark in here?"

"Shh" he whispered, "What time is it?"

Emily looked down at her arm, "Can't tell, it's too damn dark" dropping her purse on the end table, she reached over for the light only for Hotch to grab her.

"There's someone in the house" he whispered, "Where the hell are the kids?"

Her dark eyes widening in horror, she couldn't fathom the thought of someone hurting Jack or Amy, "Call the team."

Hotch nodded, reaching for his service weapon when a sound made the two agents jump.

"Stop" a murmured voice whispered.

Hotch pulled out his gun while Emily turned on the lights and neither adult was happy with the sight before them.

"Oh my God" Emily whispered, looking over at Hotch who looked down right murderous.

The sound of the voices caused a gasp to escape from Amy, "Michael. Michael..."

"What?" the dark-haired teenage boy murmured, too distracted with nipping at the young brunette's neck to notice that he was the focus of two angry parents' attention.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Hotchner" a feminine voice called out from the corner of the room.

"Ashley" Emily said, turning her head to her daughter's blonde friend, "Ashley's friend."

"Mr. and Mrs. Hotchner, meet Zack" Ashley said, tapping on the boy's arm who looked ready to flee the house.

That made Michael's dark head pop up, and spun around on the couch to see a dual glare from the agents, "Hey."

"Hey?" Hotch repeated, his glare on the boy never wavering.

"Michael, Zack, why don't you boys head on home?" Emily instructed the two scared looking boys.

"Yes ma'am" Zack muttered, rushing off the love seat towards the couch, "Come on Michael, I'll drive you home."

"But..." he mumbled, "I'll call you later, Amy..." looking over at her angry father, "Or maybe not."

Hotch turned, watching the two young teenage boys rushing out the front door then looked over at the two guilty looking girls.

"Ashley, it's best that you go now" Hotch said, taking a deep breath, "And tell your parents that I'll be giving them a call later on."

The young, blonde's jaw dropped but shot her friend a look, only to meet an embarrassed look in return.

"See you later Ames" Ashley muttered, grabbing her bag and heading out the door.

Amy turned from looking at the front door to her parents, "How could you do that to me? Do you know how embarrassing that is?"

"Excuse me?" Emily asked, "But we specifically told you no boys, Amy. You're suppose to babysit your brother, not be making out on the couch with a boy."

"You know he's not just some boy" Amy shouted, "Michael's my boyfriend."

"You're boyfriend?" Hotch repeated, shocked, "You're too young for a boyfriend."

"Too young? I'm fifteen years old" she told him getting off the couch, storming up the stairs, "We weren't doing anything wrong. We were kissing."

"Young lady, in this house we're honest with each other" Hotch said, looking over to Emily who was biting her lip, "We don't keep secrets from each other and you just kept a huge one from us. You're grounded."

"Grounded?" she repeated, "But that's not fair" looking over at Emily, "Tell him."

Hotch looked from the angry girl to his wife, "Tell me what? Emily?"

"Well, you see..." she paused, "I knew about Michael."

"You knew?" he asked, stunned, "Why the hell wasn't I told? Huh?"

"There's your reason right there" Amy muttered, stomping into her bedroom closing the door.

Emily looked from the closed door to Hotch, "Do not give me that look, I can't deal with this now."

Walking passed Hotch towards the kitchen, she sighed. Was it wrong to keep the fact that their adopted daughter had a boyfriend? Yes, she knew it the minute she had been told about Michael. But she knew what his reaction would be. It would've been better to tell him instead of walking in on them making out, along with the girl's friend and her boyfriend.

Groaning as she loaded the dishes into the dishwasher, that was something she didn't need to see, nor did Hotch. She was surprised he didn't have a stroke on sight.

Closing the dishwasher, she turned around to see Hotch staring out the window into the starry night. She knew that aside from the fact that neither her nor Amy told Hotch about Michael was one of the reasons he was angry, but the main one was catching a bunch of teenagers making out in his house was the real reason. Especially since one of said teenagers was his daughter.

But the main reason he was angry was, that despite that it had been a few short months since taking the girl into their home, he didn't like the fact that he was losing their daughter to boys. At least so soon after joining their family.

Setting the down the dishtowel, the brunette slowly wandered into the living room and wrapped her arms around Hotch's stomach, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Hey" he quietly murmured, turning his head to catch a glimpse of her.

"Are you still mad?" she asked, smiling when his covered her hands with his own caressing them.

"I'm not mad that she has a boyfriend" Hotch started, only to hear her snort at that, "Ok, I am but not as much as walking into our home that had been transformed into a teenage orgy with our son sleeping right upstairs..."

"Ok granted that was not a wise decision on Amy's part" she sighed, "But Aaron, we have to cut her a break. Amy's a good girl, and she's new to this whole daughter and sister thing."

"It's been almost four months Emily," Hotch reminded her, "School will be starting up soon, and she'll be turning sixteen. Up until she met that Ashley, she's been a responsible young adult..."

"But?" she asked, biting her lower lip, "I can tell there's a but coming in."

"She has yet to talk to her old friends from St. Peters" Hotch said, "She spends all day with Ashley and her friends, and that she hasn't introduced me to this Michael character..." he took a deep breath, "I don't want her going down a bad path, Emily."

"So what do you want to do?" Emily asked, resting her head on his shoulder "I mean I understand that she needs to be punished for bringing boys over instead of watching Jack, but we can't be too hard on her. I don't want to undo all the progress we've made with her so far."

"We're going to have to have a sit down with her and set some ground rules..." Hotch started, as the two walked towards the couch to go over some new rules.

"So how goes it in casa de la Alcatraz?" Ashley asked, painting her fingernails.

"Well no need to call in the National Air Guards" Amy sighed, "I mean I don't think they'll lock me up in solitary confinement."

"But?" the other girl asked.

"But, I know my Dad, and I know how he is on the job" the girl sighed, leaning back on her bed, pressing her cell phone to her ear as she opened up her laptop.

"You want me to have Marcellina bake you a cake with a nail file in it?" Ashley teased.

Amy chuckled at that, scanning through her emails, "Sure, if you can get it by Jack first."

Snorting, Ashley turned on her television set, "I don't know what they're getting so freaked up about" she scanned through the channels leaving it on the local news, "I mean it's not like you two were banging or anything."

"I don't even want to imagine" Amy muttered, ignoring her emails from Zoe before looking up, "Uh oh, I think I hear the sounds of the bootstraps hitting the floor. I'll call you in twenty if I'm not banned from all forms of communications."

"God parents can be so lame, especially ones that aren't even real parents" Ashley grumbled, "Any way, I'll call Chelsea and see if we can form an escape plan from the adopted parents from hell."

Amy bit her lip at that. She wasn't exactly thrilled at the way Hotch and Emily flipped out over her and friends, but she wouldn't call them the worst parents in the world. Shaking this train of thought off, she shut her laptop and zoned back in on Ashley's conversation.

"Besides don't they have better things to do then nitpick over your love life?" the girl asked, "I mean there's that creepy babysitter killer out there. Ugh, parents are lame."

"Yeah" Amy muttered in agreement, looking up when she heard a knock on her door, "Gotta go, my wardens are on call. Later."

"Knock, knock" Hotch replied through the door, "Amy?"

"Come in." Amy called out setting the cell phone on the nightstand.

"Amy?" Emily said, following Hotch into the bedroom, "We need to talk."

"Your Mom and I've talked" Hotch started, taking a seat on the computer chair, while Emily sat on the edge of the bed picking at the violet bed spread, "And we've decided that you can continue to see Michael..."

"Really?" she grinned, looking from Hotch to Emily, then furrowed her eyebrows, "What's the catch?"

"Well, school starts on Monday" Emily started, "And your father and I are both in agreement that from now until the barbecue on Memorial Day, that you're grounded."

"Grounded?" the teenager repeated, "For two weeks? Why?"

"You broke the rules about no boys over" Hotch started, "Not to mention that I didn't meet this boy..."

"Michael" Amy reiterated, then looked over at Emily, "But she didn't tell you either. Is she grounded too?"

"Watch your tone, young lady" Hotch warned, "That's not the point. The point is, you weren't honest. You broke the rules, your grounded. For two weeks, no internet except for school work. No texting, social medias, and your television time is limited."

"Great" Amy muttered, "Anything else?"

"No that's it" Hotch said, "You'll be spending these quality two weeks with your family."

"What?" she asked, "I can't even hang out with my friends?"

"You can" Emily said, "You can spend time with Zoe."

"What about Ashley, Zack, Chelsea or Michael?" Amy asked, not noticing her parents shocked by the dismissal of her former friend.

"They can come over here only." Hotch told her.

"Fine" he heard the girl grumbled, "When does lock down begin? I need to download my class schedule before I'm banned from all things outside world."

"We'll be back in ten minutes, that should give you enough time" Hotch stated, walking over to her and dropping a kiss on her forehead, "Don't worry it's not the end of the world."

Emily walked over, "Who knows you might discover something about yourself."

Amy opened up her laptop once she was alone, she scanned through her emails puzzled by several alerts from her new guidance counselor.

"Well hello there, Mr. Carter" Amy said, reading through the email, scoffed, "Meeting scheduled for 2:15 on Monday? Great."

Closing her computer she set the electronic device on her nightstand and rolled over on to her side, turning her lamp off she didn't notice a shadow walk passed her window.

"Hello solitary confinement, goodbye life."

* * *

"Families are like fudge- mostly sweet with a few nuts." Author Unknown


	2. I Don't Like Mondays

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." Walt Disney

* * *

Emily sighed as she put the car in neutral and looked in the backseat, "Do you have everything?"

"Yes Mom" Amy sullenly replied, looking to the passenger beside her, "Ready?"

"Are you sure you've got your lunches?" Emily asked, turning to look at the converging students on the front steps of the massively large school.

"Yes Mom" Jack answered, shooting his sister a grin.

"And your book bags?" Emily asked, her fingers itching to start the car and drive the children back to the safety of their home.

"Yes Mom" Jack and Amy both replied, laughing when the brunette agent gave them a look in the rear view mirror.

"I'm overreacting, aren't I?" she asked.

"Just a little" Amy told her, "We'll be fine, Mom. It's just school, it's not like we're running off to join the Army."

"Don't even joke about that" the worried mother muttered, turning back around, "You can't blame me for being nervous. This isn't just your first day at this new school, this is new for all of us."

"I know." Amy murmured, looking out the car window staring at Parks Academy.

This school was a lot different from St. Peters, for starters it held more students, from primary through high school. So she'd been relieved that she'd be able to see Jack on campus. But then there was the wardrobe drawback.

At her last school, they're required to wear uniforms, but here at this school, it was optional. Emily told her that it was up to her if she wanted to wear the uniform or not. She knew all her new friends would rather wear die then wear a school uniform and so she opted against wearing one.

Looking over at Jack, she smiled, "Ready, little man?"

"Ready" he smiled, both turned to the silent brunette in the front seat, "Bye Mom."

"Bye" Amy said, opening the back door and sliding out then taking Jack's hand, "We'll see you later."

"I'll be here to pick you both up" Emily called out, sighing as she watched the two head off towards the large building, "Its only school, its only school."

As the older girl walked down the hallway, holding on to Jack's hand she looked down when she felt a tug on her hand.

"You ok, Jack?" she asked, stopping next to the administration building where the elementary grades classes posted.

"What if they don't like me?" he asked, watching as she set her book bag down before kneeling in front of him, "What if I don't make any friends?"

"Oh Jack" she whispered, placing her hands on his shoulders, "You're nervous, aren't you?"

The boy nodded, "Yes."

Rubbing her hands on his shoulder she gave him a warm smile, "I know it's scary being in a new place, but you have nothing to worry about little man. You are an amazing person and everyone will see that."

"But..." he started, only for Amy to shake her head.

"You just have to remember that today is the first day of school, so everyone's nervous" she told him, "Just be friendly and people will see just how cool you are."

Emily and Jack shared a smile, "Now come on, let's get you to class."

As the two walked away, someone leaned against a locker watching the brother and sister turn down the hallway towards the second grade classrooms.

As Amy sat in her first class of the day, she looked around, exhaling when she saw a few of Ashley's friends inside and took a seat beside Chelsea, sitting across from Lily. Amy and Lily weren't exactly the best of friends, having gotten off on the wrong foot the day that the young brunette met the group.

She didn't know it at the time, but Lily wanted to date Michael, a fact that Amy learned later. So when Ashley introduced the brunette to the boy, they instantly connected. And since Michael was best friends with Ashley's boyfriend Zack, the two girls became inseparable since, a fact that Lily had pointed out in snide comments to Chelsea behind the two girl's backs.

Chelsea had informed the other girl if she wanted to remain within the group, that it was better to stay on Ashley's good side, and since Amy seems to be Ashley's new best friend, then she needed to keep her mouth shut.

"Morning" Amy greeted the two girls, pulling out her notebook.

"Hey" Chelsea greeted with a smile, "So how do you like the school so far?"

"It's fine" Amy said, setting her black pen down in front of her, "A lot different from St. Peters."

"That the school you went to when you were an orphan?" Lily asked, chewing on the cap of her pen.

"Yeah" Amy said, not missing the look that Chelsea shot the other girl, "At least there aren't any nuns here."

"Huh" Lily said, before turning to the book dropped on her desk by a frazzled looking teenager, "Watch it, klutz."

"Oh, sorry" the boy said, looking at the three girls before making eye contact with Chelsea "Is this... Miss Forrester's classroom?"

"Looks like it, Einstein" Lily muttered, before staring up at him in a dismissive way, "You can go now."

As the boy picked up his book, he looked from the remorseful Amy to Chelsea then moved to a desk behind the three girls.

"Are you bucking for best bitch in a supporting role?" Chelsea asked, giving the boy a sideways glance before turning back around, "There's no need to behave so mean."

Lily leaned forward, "If you like him so much, why don't you ask him out?"

"I don't like him" the girl muttered, opening her book, "And I thought having one dictator in the group was bad enough."

"Whatever." Lily said, the group focusing their attention towards the arriving teacher.

"Good morning, class" the older woman greeted, "I see a few familiar faces and a few new ones."

Amy turned her attention towards the text book in front of her grimacing at the thought of having to study World History so early in the morning.

"Miss Hotchner" the teacher said a little louder, watching as the girl beside the brunette jab at her to focus.

"Yes?" Amy asked, sheepishly looking at her teacher. She did want to make a good impression on her first day but she'd been having an unsettling feeling ever since she walked Jack to his classroom.

Hearing the chuckles of her classmates, the teacher instructed her to introduce herself to the classroom and state where she was from.

"Amy Hotchner, fifteen this is my first day at this school" she quickly answered, the entire class looking over as the side door opened.

"Sorry, sorry" Zack said, rushing in and shooting his two friends a smile before passing Ms. Forrester a note, "Sorry my car died out on me."

"Ah, thank you for gracing us with your presence Mr. Marshall" the teacher said, setting the note on her desk, "Take a seat and we can move on with the rest of the work."

As the hour ticked on, Amy felt the hair on the back of her neck raise up. Her instincts were telling her that she was being watched, and glancing over her shoulder she noticed the new boy staring at her.

"Miss Hotchner?" Ms. Forrester called out, "Eyes forward."

The girl nodded, hearing a chuckle from her classmates making her cheeks blush.

"Psst" Chelsea hissed out, leaning towards her, "What was that all about?"

"I think the new boy was staring at me" Emily whispered, "I'm not sure though."

"Him?" the girl asked, looking back quickly, "Well he is kind of cute, what do you think?"

"Totally not my type" Amy assured the girl, "Besides I'm dating Michael."

"Oh yeah" Chelsea reiterated, "So you're not interested in him?"

"Who, the geek-a-zoid?" Lily asked, leaning in, "Why are you two staring at the nerd?"

"Because I think he's kind of cute" Chelsea said, glaring at her friend, "Besides who died and made you Ashley?"

Lily rolled her eyes, "You better not let Queenie hear you say that otherwise you know what'll happen."

Amy looked from Lily to Chelsea, "What?"

Lily just shrugged her shoulders then went back to the studying the three girls were suppose to be doing.

"Chelsea?" Amy whispered, "What about Ashley?"

Chelsea nodded for the brunette to lean in, "I love Ash, but you know her temper, right?" watching her nod, "Well there was another girl who was her friend last year, Brooke."

"What happened to her?" Amy asked, searching the other girl's face for answers.

"Brooke was a nice girl" Chelsea answered, pausing as when she noticed Miss Forrester staring at them before resuming her work, "And they both tried out for the cheerleading squad..."

"But Ashley's not a cheerleader" the brunette started, "What else is there? Chelsea?"

"There was an accident the day of the try outs" she exhaled, looking over at Lily who raised an eyebrow, "It was an accident."

"Sure" Lily rolled her eyes, "Some say accidents, some say intentional.

"What happened?" Amy reiterated looking from the two girls, "You guys."

"Ladies" Ms. Forrester called out, "Is there something you wish to share with the entire class?"

"Not really," Chelsea stated, giving the teacher a smile as she opened up her book.

"Then I suggest you three go back to studying." the older woman instructed.

"Let's just say that Brooke's not here anymore, Ashley's not a cheerleader and it's best if you stay on her good side." Chelsea told Amy before turning back to her book.

"Like she's got one." Lily muttered, turning the page in her history book.

The young brunette sat there, keeping her eyes trained on the chapter about The Interwar Years but her mind tracking back to the first day she met her friend and neighbor Ashley.

With Chelsea's words ringing in her ears, that didn't seem like the new best friend she had. She knew that the blonde had an attitude but she didn't think the girl was down right vicious.

Picking up her pen, she felt something graze passed her, landing on her lap causing her to look down to see a note on her lap. Quickly scanning for anyone that was looking she unfolded the paper and smiled.

 _'First day here?'_ it read, _'Me too. Sorry about before, I didn't mean to upset your friend.'_

Amy smiled at that, he was a sweet guy. Turning to shoot the boy a smile, she saw a look that quickly flashed in Lily's eyes but shook that off.

She didn't care what the other girl thought, this boy was a nice guy and there was no way she was going to let her roll over someone just because he was a little klutzy. And as much as she liked Chelsea, she wasn't going to listen to second-hand gossip. She never saw her friend behave that way, oh of course the girl had a temper, but then who didn't?

Another note hit her, this time bumping her elbow and as she unfolded it, she smiled. He really was a nice guy.

_'By the way my name is Ryan. Maybe if this class gets too hard we can be study buddies? Oh and the teacher's looking at you, so you might want to start fake reading otherwise you'll get into trouble, Amy.'_

She shot Ryan a smile, acknowledging him before going back to her work.

Once the class bell rang, Chelsea looked over at her, "So what did he want?"

"What?" the brunette asked, shoving her three new history books in her bag then looked up at her friend.

"The new boy" Chelsea said, "Did he ask about me?"

Amy wanted to bite her lower lip, but she knew that was a sure giveaway that she was nervous, "His name's Ryan and he just wanted to apologize for earlier with Lily and to be study partners."

She felt someone drape an arm over her shoulder, "You gonna tell Michael that?"

The brunette looked to the left, shrugging Zack's arm off, "No, why would I?"

"Because someone's trying to move in on his girl" Zack said, with a shrug, "Besides why would you want to team up with that nerd?"

"Maybe because I want to pass this year instead of being held back like you have been for the past three" Amy teased as the three walked out of the classroom, "Besides there's nothing to tell."

"Whatever." Zack said, walking to the gym while the two girls peered down at their class schedules.

"I've got English on the other side of the quad" Amy said, looking at the map, "How about you?"

"Crap, math" Chelsea muttered, "I suck at math. It's not like there isn't a reason calculators were invented. Ok, see you at lunch?"

"Sure thing." Amy said, waving as the two girls headed off towards their own destination.

As the bell ranged, Amy quickly slipped into the English room not noticing that from the parking lot, she was being watched.

* * *

"When you're curious, you find a lot of interesting things to do." Walt Disney


	3. Ch-ch-ch-changes

"You must welcome change as the rule but not as your ruler." Denis Waitley

* * *

The day wore on but the thing that helped the brunette was that her classes here were bearable, and a few of her friends were in them.

Hearing the beep from her cell phone, she was mildly relieved that Emily talked Hotch into letting her keep it with her during school hours.

She frowned reading the text message from Garcia, _'Looks like you and little man will be under my protective wing for a bit, mini Gumdrop. Your folks have to run out on this unexpected case. Too gruesome for you to hear, let alone me either. Pick you both up at 3. Tootles, Auntie Penelope.'_

 _'Huh'_ she thought re-reading the text message, so absorbed in wonderment about what case that she didn't notice someone approaching her.

"Ah!" she screamed, flinching when she felt a hand land on her shoulder which caused Amy turn around.

"Sorry" the older man said, removing his hand from her and raising them in surrender, "You're Amy Hotchner, right?"

"Who wants to know?" the girl asked, trying to slow her rapidly beating heart.

"I'm Jerry Carter, your guidance counselor" the brown-haired man said with a warm smile, "Sorry if I frightened you."

"Oh no" she dismissively replied, "It's not you, really. It's me."

"Did you forget that we had a meeting during your Study Hall period?" he asked, "The secretary did send out an email with the class schedules, right?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. It's just one of those days" Amy apologetically replied, "I'm ready, Mr. Carter."

"Follow me then," he said as the two walked in comparative silence towards the main building.

Once the two had settled in Carter's office, the teenage girl stared at the name plate sitting in front of her then her eye line trailed off towards the blinds while the man took a seat across from her.

"So I take it from your school transcripts that this is your first day attending this school?" he commented.

"Well it's everyone's first day" she joked, "It is the first day of school."

"Mm hmm" he hummed, which made Amy train her head back to him as he started writing on a notepad, "Just taking notes."

"Huh" she softly replied, "Not to be rude or anything Mr. Carter..."

"Please call me Jerry." he told her.

"But may I ask why I'm here, sir?" she asked, "I mean, I know that everyone was assigned a guidance counselor, I did have one at my last school, but I rarely spoke with any of them."

"Well, as I said looking through your records, I noticed that this year has been quite the change for you" he reminded her, "New school, new friends and a new family."

"Did my Mom ask for you to speak with me?" she asked in shock, "I told her that I was adjusting fine with everything. Look, no disrespect here Mr. Carter, I get that you're just doing your job, but I'm fine."

"Are you?" he asked, setting his pen down, "I mean when I spoke with Sister Katherine from St. Peters' she informed me of your excursion with your friend... Zoe, at the FBI building."

"Yeah about that..." she started, licking her lips in a nervous manner, her hand instinctively rubbing the top part of her ear, "That's not how it was."

"That's not what this is about" he waved it off, "I just want to know how you're transitioning into part of your life."

"Oh ok" she said, picking at her thumbnail, "So what do you want to know?"

"Do you like your new family?" he asked, picking up the pen then looked up as she remained quiet, "Amy?"

"I love them" she stated emphatically, "They're the best family that I would've ever imagined being a part of," taking a deep breath, "Look Mr. Carter, I know you mean well but I'm really fine. I don't need to talk over anything, I love my family and I'm adjusting to all the new changes in my life."

Nodding, the older man tapped his pen on his notepad, "How about your biological parents, Amy?"

"What about them?" she asked.

"Well from the notes taken from your previous school, there was an incident, with you trying to track down your birth parents" he stated, "And now that you know the truth, do you still think about them?"

"Not really" she shrugged, "I mean not anymore."

"Not anymore?" he repeated, "When I read over your transcripts..."

"Mr. Carter" she interrupted, "Like most kids in foster care, I thought about my parents and wondered why I was gave up. That there was someone out there that I belonged to. Ever since I was old enough to read, I searched for answers about who my mom was, and when I finally tracked down the hospital I was born at, I felt like I found her. I don't want to get too into this but just know this, I am with the people I was always meant to be with. I saw a picture of my birth mother, Evelyn, and I know that she would be happy with where I am. And as for my birth father? I really don't care."

Looking at the clock on the wall, she felt relief that it was almost the end of school, "It's been nice talking with you, Mr. Carter, but I need to go get my brother."

He nodded, as the school bell rang and watched as the girl came barreling out of his office.

As Amy left the office, she felt a shiver run up her spine, a clear sign that she knew something was off. It was the same feeling she had in History class, that feeling of being watched.

Amy started walking towards Jack's class when someone grabbed hold of her elbow, causing the girl to wrench her arm free and elbow her would-be assailant in the stomach only to hear a familiar grunt.

"Oof, you pack a punch like your mama, little one" Garcia groaned out, which made her spin around, "You trying to kill me?"

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack before I'm even old enough to drive?" Amy asked, wincing at that, "I'm sorry, Garcia."

The older woman stood up, clenching her aching stomach trying to wave off the apologetic girl, "It's fine, I didn't really need my stomach anyway."

"I am sorry" she apologized again, "I thought we were suppose to meet you in the parking lot, so what are you doing here?"

"And miss seeing the junior "G" man and mini-Gumdrop on campus their first day" she said, pulling out her digital camera, "Without photographic evidence... You're totally hating this idea, aren't you?"

"Just a little" Amy confessed, watching the blonde put the camera back in her bag as the two walked to the classroom, "So how long will they be gone for this time?"

Approaching the boy's classroom, Garcia sighed, "I don't know, sweetie. This one's a pretty bad case."

"The babysitter killer, huh?" Amy asked, watching her pseudo-aunt wince at the idea, "Sorry, I know you really don't have a strong stomach to hear about that."

"It's just, hearing about all those poor girls" Garcia said, clearing her throat, she had to remind herself who was the adult and who was the child, "Any-who, how was your first day at your new school?"

"It was fine." she told the older woman, who looked unconvinced.

"Make any new friends?" Garcia asked, perching her purple sunglasses on top of her head, her eyes scanning the crowd looking for their sandy-haired tyke.

"Well I already have friends" she started, sighing when Garcia raised an eyebrow at her, "Well there was another new kid, I met in History."

"What's her name?" Garcia asked, giddy with excitement, "How old is she? Ooh, what does she look like?"

"His name is Ryan" Amy stated, watching the blonde's eyes light up, "He's about my age, and he's a blonde, taller than me. That's it."

"Ooh a new paramour?" Garcia asked, pausing, "I thought Gumdrop said that you were dating this boy... Michael?"

"Of course she told you" she scoffed, "Ryan's just my friend, Garcia."

"Are you sure, sugarplum?" the blonde asked, pursing her lips, "Because, you know, you're still young and you have your whole life ahead of you and just because a fella says that he's still committed to you..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa" Amy interrupted waving her hand up to stop the blonde, "Why do I get the feeling we're not talking about me, Michael or Ryan" the brunette bit her lower lip, "This is about you and Kevin, isn't it?"

"What? Pfft" Garcia scoffed, a nervous laughter escaping her lips, "No, no, no. This isn't..."

"Garcia?" the girl said, stopping in front of Jack's classroom, "I'm not buying it."

"Did anyone ever tell you, that you've got your mama's profiling skills down to a tee?" Garcia told her, "Anyway sugar, we're not here to talk about me, and we're not having that conversation until you're much older. Drinking age older."

"Must be bad," Amy muttered, focusing on the students coming out, "Look, there's Jack."

Garcia instantly pulled out her camera, blinding the on coming children while the girl beside her murmured her embarrassment of the situation.

"Hey Jack-Jack" Amy said, kneeling down to get the usual hug that they always gave each other, to be met with a sullen look, "Hey, what's wrong brother bear?"

"Can we go now?" he asked, staring at the passing students, "Where's Mom?"

"Little man, your parents had to..." Garcia started, watching the boy's face down fall in disappointment.

"Mom and Dad had to go fight the bad guys" Amy said, pulling Jack close to her, "But guess what?"

"What?" he asked, allowing his sister to wrap an arm over his shoulder.

"They're letting Aunt Penelope watch us instead of Aunt Jessica," she told him, trying to raise his cheer up Jack, "And you know how much fun she always lets us have."

"Yeah" he answered quietly, "Can we get a pizza then?"

"Sure can do, kiddo" the blonde analyst grinned, "And we can watch movies, and we can popcorn and goodies. It'll be a regular fun-fest. How's that sound?"

"Great" Amy said, looking across the quad and saw her friends, "Say, Garcia? Is it possible if I could maybe..."

"Nope" the older woman said begrudgingly, "You can't have your friends over" seeing the shocked look, "Yeah, Gumdrop told me about" looking down at the inquisitive Jack, "Yeah, she told me that invites were off limit."

"Of course" the girl replied, feeling the vibration of her cell phone but knew it would be unwise to go against the technical wizard of her pseudo-aunt, "Well can I at least talk to my friends, or did they ban that too?"

Garcia paused, holding on to Jack's hand, "Tell you what, I will let you talk with them but you have to do your home work in front of me. They want me to monitor your internet activities."

Biting her lower lip, Amy reluctantly admitted defeat with a sigh, "Ok, I promise."

"Goody" Garcia said, "Now how about we listen to some good jams on the way home."

"What's jams?" Jack asked, looking from the pink wearing woman to his equally confused sister.

"Music" she informed them as they made their way to the parking lot, "You know good music."

"What kind of music?" Amy asked, wondering if they'd be forced to listen to heavy metal or something techno.

As Garcia strapped Jack in the backseat, she looked over at the teenage girl who was belting herself into the passenger seat.

"Have either of you ever heard of the Fleetwood Mac?" the blonde asked, watching both Hotchner children's' faces blank on the name, "How about Blondie?"

Amy pursed her lips, "Is that a character in the Sunday paper?"

Garcia's head dropped at hearing that, "My God what do you kids today listen to?"

"Jonas Brothers, Justin Bieber..." Amy started, looking up when the blonde slammed the driver side door closed, "What?"

"No offense, sweets" Garcia said, pulling out of the parking lot, "But you've got crap taste in music."

The two children winced when they heard something blare over the speakers and Amy shared a look with her brother before the car drove away from the school ground.

Tossing a cigarette on the ground, an unseen observer looked down at their watch before walking towards their own car, ready to follow the car.

* * *

"If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it." Mary Engelbreit


	4. Riders On The Storm

"A true friend freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably." William Penn

* * *

Amy propped her legs up on the couch, her laptop opened, clicking away on the keyboard while she covertly read her email.

"Ugh," she scoffed, deleting the multiple spam in her inbox.

"Whatcha doing?" Jack asked, looking over her shoulder, "Mom, said you weren't suppose to be on the computer."

"Unless it was to do homework," Amy corrected, turning to look at Jack, "Go watch tv."

"Don't wanna," Jack said, hopping up on the couch next to her, "Besides no new shows."

"Did you do your homework?" she asked, ignoring the alert from an instant message popping up on her screen.

"Uh huh," he answered quietly, not watching the way she looked up at him inquisitive, "What?"

"Jack, is something wrong?" she asked, looking over at their temporary babysitter, "Buddy, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he answered, grabbing the remote and effectively ending the conversation.

The girl sat there, contemplating whether to pry deeper into what was troubling her brother but put that on the back burner when she felt her cell phone vibrate on her stomach.

She closed the laptop, looked back over to Garcia who seemed pretty invested in her own phone call and wandered over to the window seat to read the text message.

_'Hey babe, missed you. Sucks that you're banned from all outsiders but here's something to cheer you up.'_

The semi-sullen teens mood lifted at the image on her cell phone, "Jeez Michael."

Quickly looking at her distracted brother to the preoccupied Garcia, she sent him a quick reply, one that made her whole face lit up before hearing Jack call her out.

"You're not suppose to text anyone," Jack emphatically said, acting reminiscent of their father, "Mom said so."

"Oh whoa ho there little girlie" Garcia called out, taking the black iPhone from her, "Honey, you know better than to sneak around and misbehave."

"Penelope," Amy huffed out, "I'm not hurting anyone. I was just sending a text message to let people know I still exist."

"Pfft," the blonde dismissed, "Sweets, you think I want to play the role of evil stepmother from every fairy tale known to man, and tell you no? I don't. I would be more than thrilled to indulge you with your phone, the internet and your friends."

"Then you'll give me back my phone?" Amy asked, looking longingly at the black device in the blonde's hand.

"Not until tomorrow morning when I drop you and Captain Jack off at school," Garcia told her, watching the girl scowl at that, "And don't give me that look. It doesn't work when Morgan or Reid do it, it's not going to work with..." pausing, the blonde diverted her eyes to the window behind Amy and gasped, "Oh my God."

"What?" Amy asked, flopping back down on the couch and opening her laptop.

"Did you see that?" Garcia asked, maneuvering towards the back window then looked back to the two confused children, "There's someone out there."

"What?" Amy asked, walking towards Garcia, looking outside, "There's no one their," shaking her head, "You need to lay off the horror movies, Penelope."

Turning from the window, Garcia grabbed on the girl's slender elbow pulling her back to her, "I know someone's there. You need to take Jack upstairs and distract him while I check on the..."

A loud clap of thunder, startled the two who instantly looked back out into the darkened sky, causing the two to jump from fear.

"A bad guy?" Jack asked, moving towards the window only for Amy to grab hold of him, "But I wanna see."

"No, there's nobody outside, buddy," Amy told him, "Just Auntie PG's imagination working on overtime again."

"But..." the older woman protested, but was silenced with a look, "Well, look at the time. I think it's someone's bed time."

"No it isn't," the boy replied, "I'm a big boy."

"And big boy's have bed times too," Amy teased, relieved to dissipate the situation by tickling Jack's stomach, "Now come on monkey man, we've got teeth to wash and pajamas to brush."

"Ooh, someone's been to the world of backwards land," Garcia joked, setting the iPhone on the couch and followed the brother and sister down the hallway.

Unbeknownst to the trio, a shadowed figure walked past the window watching the brunette girl tickle the little boy into fits of giggles.

"See that wasn't too bad now was it?" Garcia asked, as she and Amy walked back into the living room, "Sweet pea?"

Amy paused by the couch, picking up her laptop, "Garcia, do you think if I told you something, you could keep it to yourself and not tell anyone?"

"Anyone?" the blonde asked, her curiosity instantly peaked.

"Well, more specifically my parents and your team." Amy reiterated.

The blonde hesitated for a moment before taking a seat on the small ottoman, "That depends, what is it?"

Taking a breath, Amy sat down on the couch, placing her closed laptop on top of the coffee table, "Well, here's the thing..."

"It's not something illegal or about..." Garcia paused, before leaning in, "Is this about sex?"

The teenager gaped at the woman across from her, dumbfounded which only flustered Garcia, "That's not what you were going to talk to me about, was it?"

"No," the brunette whispered, shaking her head, "That's something I'm not thinking about," the blonde exhaled at that, relieved, "At least not yet."

"That's good," Garcia exhaled, "You are far too young, and have way too protective parents to even think of heading down that..." looking at the bewildered girl, "You were saying?"

"I have a hypothetical question for you," Amy began, leaning back on the couch to get comfortable, "Now I don't want you to say anything, until after I finish. You promise?"

"On my hard drive, mini Prentiss-Hotchner" Garcia said, sending her a reassuring smile, "Now shoot."

"How would one go about investigating someone?" Amy asked, "I mean, if you thought someone or rather something was off?" shaking her head, "If you thought somebody was following you, how would you go about tracing them?"

Garcia frowned, taking in the girl's words, "Can I -" she tilted her head, to which Amy nodded, "All right, are you talking about stalking, sweetie?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it 'stalking', per say," Amy paused, pondering the correct word, when she noticed Garcia grab her laptop, "What are you doing?"

"I, my little cupcake cutie, am going to check every last spot you've traveled to within the past thirty days." Garcia said, opening up the laptop and pulling up her mainframe from the BAU, "Now, just give me the locations and dates that you felt like some creep-o had been watching you and I will send them into the angered wrath of Papa Hotchner and Uncles Morgan and Dave."

Amy just sat there stunned, unable to speak while Garcia went into action, "Sweets?"

"I was talking hypothetical," Amy quietly replied. After all there was no way to know if she was actually being followed, and if she told her parents, the team or anyone there was a good chance she'd be yanked out of school just as fast as you could blink.

"Honey, are you sure that you're talking hypothetical?" Garcia asked, "Because trust me when I say that the BAU sees a lot of cases that started out just like this and it's always better to be safe then sorry."

Amy leaned forward, closing the lid on her laptop, "Garcia, I'm asking you to just look into a supposed situation. Trust me when I tell you that if this were something dangerous or the bit dangerous I'd be the first person to tell my parents or one of you guys."

Garcia placed a warm hand on the younger girl's, "If you promise me, promise, that if anything hinky or even the tiniest bit disturbing you tell Hotch and Emily right away."

"Ok" Amy promised, only to receive a wary look from the bubbly analyst, "I promise. I'm not reckless, Penelope, I do value my life."

"All right, I believe you," she murmured, before returning to the laptop, "So what did you need me to 'hypothetically' spelunk for you?" at the stunned look, "I may be brash and out there, but I do know how to get the job done. After all I did find you, didn't I?"

"True," Amy answered, pursing her lips, "Ok, here's what I want you to do. I need you to look into the background of..."

Before the young Hotchner girl could finish her sentence a loud clap of thunder followed the living room lights flickering and sharp bang from the back sliding glass door startled both women, causing Garcia to scream while Amy flinched from the noise.

"Sorry," Garcia panted out,"I think that officially took ten years off my already short lifespan."

Once she recovered from her brief scare, Garcia turned her attention back to the laptop, "Ok, now on to business."

She started typing only to realize that the laptop had died out from the temporary disturbance in their silent night.

"Damn it," Garcia muttered, then winced looking over at the girl, "Sorry, I forget I have to filter with the kiddies."

"It's fine," Amy assured her, watching as Garcia tried once again but was again met with failure, "So I take it, that was a 'no go'?"

"You'd guess correctly, sweets," Garcia said, sighing, "I'm really sorry, honey. You know how much I want to help you."

Amy nodded in agreement, but leaned forward reaching for a notepad and pen, "How about we just give you the information and you can do this tomorrow instead?"

"Can and will do." Garcia chirped out, watching as Amy started writing.

The blonde's eyebrows furrowed in wonderment as she watched the girl's continuous writing, but then something caught the analyst's attention from her pseudo-niece's problem when she spotted movement coming from the peripheral vision.

"Tell me you saw that" Garcia pleaded, turning around to face the window then looked back at her charge, "You saw that, right?"

"Uh huh," the girl nodded in agreement, "What the hell is that?"

Garcia slowly backed away from the window, tugging Amy's hand to follow her, "I have no freaking idea, but we might have to call the police..."

As the two hurriedly moved towards the telephone, another loud clap of thunder could be heard making the blonde tighten her grip on Amy's hand.

"It's just thunder, Garcia." Amy assured the older woman, "It was only thunder."

"Who are you trying to convince, me or yourself?" Garcia nervously joked, as they walked down the hallway.

As the two frightened women walked passed the living room, a louder bang came from the front door. Sharing a scared look, Amy grabbed the telephone while Garcia's grip on the girl tightened.

Garcia maneuvered the them down the narrow pathway of the hall, while Amy started dialing the first person that came to mind. The banging only got louder once they passed by the front door. Both let out a loud shriek when the lights went out while the front door was kicked opened.

"Please don't kill us!" Garcia cried out shutting her eyes, pulling Amy towards her in a protective manner, ready to shield the girl from whatever was about to happen.

"Why would I kill you?" a man called out, "It's not like you dropped me from Facebook."

Garcia spun around, still clutching Amy close to her, "Derek Morgan, I'm gonna kill you."

"Whoa there, mama" Morgan teased, raising his hands in a surrender, "What's wrong?"

"You," she hissed out, narrowing her eyes on him, "Trying to scare me and two innocent cupcakes here."

Morgan's eyes went straight to the teenage brunette, who was trying to pry herself free from the overprotective blonde.

"Uh, baby girl..." Morgan started.

"I mean who the hell... heck, do you think you are? Showing up here and nearly giving me a heart attack?" Garcia growled out, "For the love of Pippi Longstocking, Morgan, you track down serial killers for a living and you go around skulking like one?"

Morgan chuckled which only infuriated the blonde more until something hit his head, which made him look up, "Did you really just throw your slipper at me?"

"Can't breathe." Amy gasped out, when Garcia tightened her hold on the girl.

"Sorry" Garcia apologized to the girl, "Sweetie, why don't you go take your laptop up to your room while I..."

"Kill Uncle Derek" Amy finished, watching the blonde smirk at that, "Just remember bloodstains are a pain to get out."

"Little bit." Morgan greeted her with a smile.

Once Amy was in the living room she could hear the harsh whispers of the two BAU employees, and though she knew it was improper to snoop, especially on these two, she couldn't help it.

"What's wrong?" Garcia asked, "Why the hell are you dropping by this late?"

"We've got a problem, baby girl" Morgan whispered, pausing as he watched Amy grab her laptop and walk down the hallway, "There was an accident."

"What kind of accident?" Garcia asked, folding her arms across her chest in a protective stance. Her heart was racing, wondering what happened.

"Emily" Morgan began, taking a deep breath, while the blonde's eyes welled up in tears, "They're was an incident with Hotch and Emily, and their fleeing unsub..."

"Is she alright?" Garcia whispered, she was on the verge of losing any semblance of control, "Morgan tell me she's all right."

"She was nicked in the arm," Morgan said, "She's still being looked at in Baltimore arguing with the docs, but Hotch wants to send her home, and send me out."

"Well what are you waiting for?" Garcia practically shouted, "You need to go trade places with Gumdrop. Oh dear God, thank you."

Morgan placed his hands on the blonde's shoulder, "Calm down, Penelope. Calm down" he told her, "I am, and I will make sure that she's sent home, but you know how stubborn Princess is..."

"Tell me about it." Garcia muttered, then her eyes widened, "What do I tell the kids? Jack and Amy are going to wonder why Em was sent home."

"The truth" Morgan told her, "They're going to hear the truth, but I think that should wait until tomorrow, Garcia. It's late, they're in bed and they need their sleep. They've got school in the morning."

"You're right, you're right" she exhaled, "God Derek, I don't know what would happen if those two munchkins lost Emily or Hotch."

Morgan wrapped his arms around the blonde pulling her into a hug, "Don't worry baby girl, nothing will happen to either of them, and those kids won't lose their parents."

Looking up at him, she sniffled, "You don't know that. I mean look at Amy, she's lost her biological parents, been bounced around from foster home to foster home and finally finds the perfect family only to nearly lose another mother?"

"Garcia" Morgan said, pulling the blonde from her rambling, "She's fine and Emily's fine. You can't go jumping to the worst case scenario every time one of us gets into a scuffle. Look, I didn't get the full layout on what happened, but I know you and you'll be interrogating Em tomorrow when she comes up."

"Derek Morgan did I ever tell you, you're my rock?" Garcia told him, before jumping in shock as the lights came blaring on with a touch of thunder clapping in the background.

"It's nice to hear. Oh, one more thing" he said, pulling out of her arms, "Kevin was still at the BAU when I left and he said, and I quote 'Remember lamp chop, thunder is just God's way of bowling'."

Amy pulled away from the wall, sniffling as she wandered back to her bedroom, closing the door behind her. Fear raced through her young heart. She was worried for Emily, and afraid that if something happened to her, that she'd be sent away.

Setting the laptop down, she flopped onto her bed, cuddling with her stuffed dinosaur, Dean, she buried her face in the plush green toy, her worry for Emily outweighing her own problems.

And there was no one else who'd be willing to take in an older kid. Oh sure there were the occasional do-gooders, but most of the people she met while at St. Peters' after being dropped off by the last family, were kid collectors. People who adopted or fostered kids just for the checks.

Hotch and Emily weren't like that. She knew that the instant she laid eyes upon them. But really, if something happened to Emily, would Hotch, her new dad, really want the added burden of another kid when he already had Jack?

_'Oh Jack.'_

she sniffled at the idea of the sandy-haired boy, he already lost one mother, she couldn't fathom the idea of him losing another one.

Her mind so consumed with worry, she knew that she wouldn't be able to relax until she saw Emily with her own eyes, she didn't hear the chime on her laptop or the shadowy figure that left her window.

Clicking off her lamp, she wonder when anyone of them were going to catch a break.

* * *

"Life is uncharted territory. It reveals its story one moment at a time." Leo F. Buscaglia


	5. Rolling In The Deep

Andre Gide said, "Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore."

* * *

As Garcia pulled the borrowed SUV up to the school, she shut off the engine and looked at the two sullen faces in the backseat.

"Are you sure you two want to go to school?" she asked, her eyes scanning from the unusually silent Jack to the nervous looking Amy, "Principal Walsh did say it'd be fine to miss a few more days."

"We've been out for a week, Penelope" Amy reminded her looking quickly at Jack, "Ever since, you know."

Jack looked over to his big sister, whose own eyes were staring at the back of the headrest.

"I'm ready to go back," Jack answered softly, "Amy?"

"I am too," she said, clearing her throat, "Besides, we know Mom's fine, so we're ok. Right, Jack?"

"Right." he nodded in agreement, as he unfasten his seat belt he looked up towards his side of the school pausing.

"Everything ok, kiddo?" Garcia asked, turning her gaze on him, "Jack?"

"I'm fine" he murmured, watching Amy open the door and slide out, once she held out her hand to help him, he quickly dismissed it.

"Jack?" she asked, slightly hurt by his dismissive behavior.

"I'm not a baby." he told her, grabbing his backpack and marching off towards his class.

The two watch as Jack walked into his classroom, both stunned by the unexpected outburst from the usually mellow boy.

"What was that about?" Garcia asked, turning her attention to the silent brunette, "Amy, has something else been going on with Jack?"

"You mean other than the meltdown in class last week or Mom getting shot? No" she winced at that, "I would think that it had something to do with Mom, but Jack seemed fine after he talked to her last night" the girl paused, pondering something but shook that off, "I don't know."

"Keep an eye on him today" Garcia told her, "I'll try to get in touch with Emily, maybe whatever's wrong with Jack, knowing that his Mom will be back soon will change it."

"Sure" she said, grabbing her books, "Bye."

"Have a good..." Garcia started to say, but the slam of the car door interrupted her mid-sentence, "Day" sighing, she muttered, "Another reason Penelope Garcia won't have children, no manners."

Amy sat in her math class, her pen mindlessly tapping against her notebook trying to pay attention. She knew something was off with Jack, she had excused herself during Physical Education to check on him, and saw him sitting by himself during recess and that nearly broke her heart.

It was hard enough transitioning into being a brother, but to add to it a new school? It was a wonder how she could have been so focused on her own issues that she let Jack's slip past her. What kind of sister did that make her? ' _Not a good one apparently,'_ she thought bitterly.

At the sound of the bell, Amy grabbed her books and backpack ready to hurry towards the next class when someone grabbed ahold of her arm. Startled, the brunette's instincts kicked in and she wrenched herself free, elbowing the person in the gut.

"Oof" a familiar voice grunted out, "Nice."

Turning on her heels, she instantly dropped her bag in utter humiliation, "Shit."

"Tell me how you really feel about me" Michael stated, rubbing his aching ribs as he stood up, "Where were you?"

"Huh?" she asked, confused.

"It looked like you were a million miles away" Michael told her, picking up her bag, "Lost in thought."

"Oh" she quietly replied, biting her lower lip, "My Mom and Jack."

"How is she?" Michael asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, walking down the hall towards her next class, "I only know a little of what Ashley and Chelsea told me."

"It was just a flesh wound" she told him, taking comfort in his presence, "Jack and I talked to her and Dad last night."

"When is she coming home?" he asked, turning his gaze on her as they turned a corner down the hall. Both ignoring the loud cluster of students passing them.

"A few days, maybe" she sighed, "I don't think Jack's taking it very well."

"You mean because..." he let the sentence hang in the air, once she stopped, "Because of what happened to his other Mom?"

Shrugging her shoulders, she let out a defeated sigh, "That's the thing, I don't know. I don't know what's wrong with my brother. He was so distant and guarded ever since this happened, maybe even before..."

"What do you mean 'maybe even before'?" Michael asked, both looking up when the second bell sounded, alerting them they needed to get in class, "Well, that's convenient."

Walking the brunette to her classroom, he handed over her forgotten English books before pulling her into a hug, one he knew wasn't allowed to give on school grounds but he didn't care. All he cared about was the well-being of his upset girlfriend.

"Thanks" Amy said, pulling back from the hug, she felt somewhat better than she did an hour ago, "See you at lunch?"

"Of course" he answered, giving her a wink before turning to head down the hall to his own class.

Shifting to the side as students passed her to enter the class, Amy turned her head to the administration office, watching as Ryan walked in with Mr. Carter.

Shrugging it off, she hurried into the classroom still filled with worry for the unsettling outburst from Jack, concern for Emily and a nagging feeling that someone was watching her.

Walking down the hall during lunch, Amy made a quick pit stop by the elementary wing, and looked all over playground for Jack.

Her eyes scanned over the children until she spotted her brother and she paused. Jack was completely alone. All during English and science she had tried to figure out what was wrong with him, and she did promise to look out for him, something she would've done no matter what.

She bit her lip when she took note of how Jack watched the other children kick a soccer ball around, he looked so longingly wanting to join in. When the ball hit his foot he leaned over picking it up, and sent it to one of the boys nearby and went back to reading his comic book.

"Jack" she whispered, "What happened?"

Amy stood there so long that she didn't notice that someone was approaching her, until she felt a hand land on her shoulder.

"Danger!" several girls called out, causing the brunette to jump at that while they laughed.

"Jesus Ash," Amy panted out, turning around, "Trying to kill me?"

"If I was going to kill you, I'd use my hands" the girl teased, while Lily rolled her eyes, "Anyway what's taking so long? Lunch will be over before you know it."

"I had to check on my brother," Amy told her, turning and giving the boy a sideways glance.

"How's your Mom?" Chelsea asked, ignoring the look that Ashley gave her, "When's she coming home?"

"I don't know." Amy admitted.

"Well, don't worry about that," Ashley told her, draping her arm on her, "You've got us to keep you occupied, and if your brother needs someone to play with I'm sure I can get Bobby to agree to it."

"Yeah, you can always hide his video games and make him cry again" Chelsea joked, earning a glare from the bossy girl, "What? It was kind of funny."

"Come on, Zack and Michael will think we're sneaking into the gym to watch the swim team if we take too long." Ashley joked, walking the brunette towards the cafeteria.

"Say what do you know about that guidance counselor, Carter?" Lily asked Amy, "I got a call in to talk to him, and I'm not who likes to talk about myself" seeing the disbelief on the three girls, "Well much. Oh shut up."

"He's an all right guy, I guess" she said with a shrug, "I did see him earlier talking with the new guy Ryan..."

"Oh yeah!" Ashley grinned, "I heard that he was all over you."

"What?" Amy asked in disbelief, "Who told you that?"

Ashley pointed her thumb over to Lily, "That one. She said he slipped you a couple of notes, did you tell Michael?"

"Why would I?" Amy asked, "It's not like, I like him or anything."

"Ok" the blonde said, deepening her voice, "If you say."

Taking a seat at the table, Amy felt her cell phone vibrate, pulling it from her pocket she looked down noticing a text message from Garcia and felt a bit let down that she hadn't heard from Emily yet.

"Earth to Amy, come in Amy" Ashley called out, snapping her fingers in front of the distracted girl, "Ames..."

"What?" she asked, clearing her throat as she looked up at the puzzled faces of her friends, "What?"

"You ok?" Michael asked, placing a gentle hand on her arm.

"Yeah" she told them accepting the can of soda placed in front of her, "I'm good."

She tried to stay focused, participate in the conversation going on around her, but her mind kept drifting between Jack and Emily. Until the conversation drifted over to newcomer approaching their table.

"God, look who it is" Lily muttered as she picked up a potato chip. The brunette's eyes trailed over to the smiling face of Ryan.

"Hi Amy." Ryan greeted her.

"Hey" she answered back returning the smile, "You know everyone right?"

"Not really" he said, taking a seat beside Chelsea who moved her books over, allowing him to sit beside her, "Hi, I'm Ryan."

"Ashley." the blonde said, her eyes sizing him up before going back to her conversation with her boyfriend.

"I'm Michael" the boy beside Amy greeted, "Amy's boyfriend."

"Oh, hi" Ryan said, nodding to Chelsea and Lily "I'm in History with her and these two."

"So you're new in town?" Ashley asked, turning away from Zach to look at Ryan, "What school did you go to before here?"

"I was in boarding school in New Hampshire" he shrugged, "Divorced parents, you know how it is."

"So you moved here with your..." Ryan asked.

"To live with my Dad" he shrugged, "My Mom went back West to take care of my aunt."

"Oh" Chelsea said propping her elbow on the table, "Well how has your first week been?"

"It's been ok," he said, "Though I don't really like that Ms. Forrester gave us that essay on the fall of the Roman Empire so soon."

"I know" Amy disdainfully replied, "I just came back and get that?"

The camaraderie seemed to lighten Amy up, helped her clear her mind. It was then that Michael noticed the other boy's looks he kept sending towards the brunette. Clearing his throat he saw the confused looked Amy gave him but just shook his head.

"Can I ask you something?" Ryan asked, watching Ashley smirk but Michael and Zach zero in on the new boy.

"I guess" she answered, "What is it?"

"Why were you out for over a week?" he asked, watching her suck in a breath as she exchanged a look between Ashley and Michael, "Did I say something wrong?"

Ashley leaned over, giving the boy a hard look, "Look, we're all doing you here a favor by allowing you to sit with us. So how about your return the favor and keep your mouth shut about things that don't involve you."

The whole table sat in silence while the angry girl got up, dropping her discarded lunch into the trash before storming out of the cafeteria.

"I guess it was something I said" Ryan muttered in embarrassment. He returned his attention to the brunette across him, "Yeah, I'm sorry."

"It's fine" she murmured, looking over at Michael, "Let's go, I want to check on Jack."

The dark-haired boy nodded, taking her hand in his giving his friends a look as the two disembarked from the cafeteria.

"Aren't you going to go after Ashley?" Chelsea asked Zach.

"And risk getting yelled at?" he joked, taking a breath, he looked over at Ryan, "Thank a lot, pal."

Chelsea and Lily exchanged looks before gathering up their books, then looked over at Ryan.

"Amy is her best friend." Chelsea explained.

"Your lucky she didn't hit you" Lily added with a pointed look, "Come on, Chelse."

The boy sat there watching as the two girls left him sitting alone at the table.

"Yeah, aren't I lucky?" Ryan muttered, tapping his fingers on the table sighing.

Walking hand in hand to the playground, Amy felt like a weight had lifted off her chest once they were free from the confines of their friends and students.

Standing in front of a medium-sized chain link fence, the young couple watched the younger children playing around, enjoying their free time. Both sharing a laugh when a little girl squealed in delight at jumping off the swings.

"Do you see him anywhere?" Amy asked, scanning the grounds for her brother.

"No" Michael shook his head, his eyes going to every sandy-haired boy, "That's weird."

The brunette felt her heart raced, her mind going in hyper-mode. Jack was supposed to be on this playground with his classmates.

Leaving Michael standing there, she passed through the chain link fence towards the playground monitor. Anger coursing through her, why wasn't anyone watching out for Jack?

Storming up to the surprised woman, she went into full fledge authoritative Hotchner mode, "Where the hell is my brother?"

"Excuse me?" the older woman asked, "Why aren't you on your side of the school?"

"Jack Hotchner" Amy said, "Where is he?"

"Who?" the woman asked.

"My brother, Jack Hotchner, where is he?" Amy repeated, "He's suppose to be on this playground but I don't see him anywhere."

"I..." the woman paused, frowning, "Seven year old, brownish-blonde hair?"

"Yes!" Amy practically shouted, fed up with the incompetent woman, "Where the hell is my brother?"

The woman narrowed her eyes on the unapologetic girl, "Young lady, be mindful of your language on school grounds."

"You want me to watch my mouth?" she repeated, "How about you get off your ass and tell me where the hell my little brother is?"

Amy tapped her foot as she sat in the main office of the school, taking a deep breath she looked up at the clock, ten minutes until the last class starts.

Her head whipped around when she heard the sound of clacking heels, "Crap."

"Amy Prentiss Hotchner, what did you do?" Garcia bellowed, "Getting into a fight with a playground monitor?"

"She started it" Amy offered, wrenching at the unamused look on Garcia's face, "It was about Jack."

The blonde instantly took a seat beside her, "What about him?"

"During lunch, Michael and I cut out of the cafeteria early to check on him," she started, knowing it was best not to tell her that she was hurt and worried about Emily, "And when we scanned the playground he wasn't there."

Garcia's eyes narrowed at that, "What do you mean he wasn't there? Well where is he?"

"That's what I was trying to find out," Amy huffed out, pointing her thumb at the passing woman, "Until that one copped an attitude and demanded I go back to my side of the school."

"Mm hmm, ok" Garcia pursed her lips, getting off the bench walking to the older woman nursing a black eye.

Amy watched as the always kind and bubbly blonde analyst took the woman to the side of the room and spoke with her. Judging from what she could only see, whatever Garcia was saying frightened the woman into talking.

"Is that your Mother?" Carter asked, startling the girl as he took a seat beside her, "Sorry."

Trying to control her speeding heart while the man shot her a sheepish smile, "No, that would be my Aunt Penelope. We call her the Terminator."

"So is there anything you'd like to talk about now?" Carter asked, his eyes zeroing in on the swelling of the smaller hand, "Like why your fist is swelling like to the size of a watermelon or why Miss Johnson looks like she lost around with Mike Tyson."

"Who?" Amy asked, watching the man's stunned look.

"Never mind" he said getting back on the topic, "I spoke with Principal McCall, he's not going to be expelling you, but he would like to speak with your parents" looking over at Garcia, "Yeah, only your parents about you and your brother."

"And next time don't go talking to fifteen year olds like that" Garcia shouted watching the woman flee the room, "Teach you a thing or two..." marching back to Amy and Carter, "And who are you?"

"Jerry Carter" he introduced himself, watching the woman eye him, "Amy's guidance counselor."

"Ah" she said, "Penelope Garcia, her Aunt and guardian until her parents return from work. Now, I'll be taking Amy and Jack Hotchner home now."

"Certainly, you'll just need to speak with Principal McCall and..." Carter started, "Elise, can you go get Jack Hotchner from the nurse's station?"

The secretary nodded before leaving.

"Why is Jack there?" Amy asked, looking from Garcia to Carter.

"We'll talk about that when we get home," Garcia reassured the girl, "You stay here with Jack and I'll go talk with your principal."

Taking a deep breath, she leaned back on the bench closing her eyes to control the whirl of emotions racing through her. This wasn't how she planned her school year. Especially at a new school.

"Everything will be ok," he told her, "You'll most likely have a few weeks detention and refrain from stepping on the playground..."

"That's not what I'm worried about" the girl said, watching as Jack walked out of the room, "I worried about what my parents..."

The concerned man kept his attention focused on the girl whose faced showed several waves of unsteady emotions before blanking up.

"Jack!" she called out, watching as the tattered and dirty boy raced over to her embracing hug, "What happened?"

"Nothing happened" he stated solemnly, his eyes shifting to the adult next to her before looking around, "Is Miss Penelope here?"

"Yeah, she's in with the principal" she said, sitting down with Jack, "This is Mr. Carter, can you say 'hi'?"

"Hi" Jack said, before shutting the man out, "Mom and Dad are gonna be mad at us."

Carter kneeled in front of the two, "Don't you worry, buddy. Moms and Dads only get mad because they worry for their children's safety."

"How do you know?" Jack asked.

"Because if my children ever got hurt, I'd be worried too. It's a parent's job to worry" he assured the boy, "No matter the situation parent's always worry for their children."

"But my Dad says that fighting is never the answer" Jack said, "And that only cowards hurt people who can't fight back."

"Well..." Carter paused, "Sometimes people do things without thinking about the consequences of their actions, but it's always best to be honest with people and own up to your mistakes even if they're good, intended ones."

Amy frowned at that, but didn't say anything when he added, "No matter how wrong something is, it's never all right to hurt someone."

The two children watched as the man stood up giving them a smile.

"You both take care now" he gave the two a smile, "Amy, I'm sure we'll be having a conversation about this soon?"

"Great." she muttered, pulling Jack onto her lap.

Amy sat there thinking, while keeping her brother close to her. Whatever had upset him today wasn't just some random fluke. It was something that had to be tracked down to last week before kept home from school.

"Nice talking with you, Principal McCall" Garcia called out, "Lets do lunch sometime..."

Garcia stood in front of them, giving both children a chiding look, "Don't put the puppy dog eyes on me, you two are going to be having a long conversation with your parents tonight."

"This is really gonna suck." Amy muttered, following Garcia and Jack out of the office.

* * *

"I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it." Rosalia de Castro


	6. Don't Stand So Close To Me

"If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will." Abraham Lincoln

* * *

 

Emily gingerly sat down beside Hotch on the large couch, both had their attention focused on the two squirming children before them.

"So, who wants to go first?" Hotch asked, looking at his son, "Jack?"

The boy gave Amy an imploring look, who cleared her throat gathering attention on her.

"So..." she slowly started, "How was Baltimore?"

Both adults eyes narrowed at that, and she mentally cursed herself for her blasé retort.

"Why did you beat up the playground monitor?" Emily asked, "And why was Jack in the nurse's office?"

Amy's eyebrows shot up at that, "Garcia didn't tell you?"

Biting her lip, Emily took a deep breath, "We'd rather we heard it from the two of you."

"Although getting a phone call in the middle of a witness interview wasn't fun." Hotch added, both children felt instantly bad at that.

"Sorry," Jack whispered, "We didn't mean to..."

"Jack, sweetie," Emily softly spoke, "Can you tell us what happened?"

"It was an accident," he stated, "It was just an accident."

"Would you tell us about it?" Hotch asked, all three had concerns with the recent change in the boy's behavior.

"It was nothing." Jack muttered, not meeting the adults eyes.

"Principal McCall said that you got into a fight with another boy," Emily started, "What was the fight about?"

Jack shrugged his shoulders, folding his arms across his tiny chest, "Nothing."

Emily licked her lower lip, looking over at Hotch whose frowned deepened at that.

"You know that violence is never the answer to anything," Hotch told Jack, who kept his eyes trained on the carpeting, "And that it's not permitted at school or home."

"I know." Jack quietly answered.

"Both of you know better than to get into fights with students or administrative staff," Hotch said, looking at Amy, "Jack, I want you to tell me why you were fighting with that other boy."

Jack lifted his head, "It was nothing."

The two adults looked at each other, both knew that he wasn't going to tell them. Amy kept her eyes trained on Jack, a gnawing doubt searing through her, she had an inkling of suspicion but wasn't going to say anything until she knew for sure.

"All right, if you don't want to talk about it now, you're grounded," Hotch told his son, "Three weeks, no television, no video games. Nothing. Go to your room and do your homework, we'll call you when dinner's ready."

The boy stood up in defeat, stomping up the stairs to his room before slamming his bedroom door shut.

"Well," Amy casually replied, "I guess that's everything, right?"

"Wrong." Hotch and Emily said in unison.

"Knew it" Amy muttered, "Look, I already told you why I went off on Miss Johnson, she wouldn't tell me about Jack. Do you have any idea what it felt like not seeing him anywhere on that playground? It scared the hell out of me."

"That's what being a parent feels like" Hotch told Amy, "The knowing and not knowing, the idea that at any second someone could steal away the one thing that is your whole world."

"So you understand?" she asked.

"Yes we understand," Emily told her, "And honestly it's wonderful that you are that protective over Jack..."

"However," Hotch interjected, "Like we just told Jack, violence is not the answer. There were many other things you could have done differently. Such as talk with his teacher, gone to the principal's office, anything other than punching out the school staff."

Leaning back on the couch, she scoffed at that, "Please, tell me you two wouldn't have done something like that to protect a child."

The dark-haired paired remained silent at that, both instantly thinking about the worst moment in their lives when they did whatever it took to protect a child they cared for.

"Irregardless," Hotch quickly replied, "As good as your intentions where, they were poorly made. Sweetheart, you can't go around attacking people for upsetting you, that's only going to lead to further trouble."

"I know," she sighed, "I know, but you guys haven't been here for over a week, you haven't seen the changes in Jack. There's something really wrong with him."

"What do you mean 'change'?" Emily asked, concern evident in her tone, "I mean he always sounded fine on the phone when we called..."

"I don't know," Amy admitted, "But whatever it was, it happened the first day of school..."

"It could be because you got hurt," Hotch told Emily, then looked over to Amy, "Grounding still stands, along with the punishment..."

She opened her mouth to protest, but Hotch cut her off, "And we're pushing getting your driver's permit back three months."

Amy wasn't the only one stunned by that, Emily was too, but when their daughter turned her inquiring eyes on her, the brunette nodded in agreement.

"But that's not fair," she protested, "I only wanted to find out what happened to Jack, and defended myself against an incredibly rude woman. I know I made a mistake but this is not fair."

Emily took a deep breath, she didn't want to punish her daughter, but couldn't reward her for her actions even if they were ones that she would have done in her place.

"This decision is final, Amy," Emily told her, "Now go to your room and do your homework."

Like Jack had done a few minutes earlier, the teenager stormed out of the living room, slamming the door to her bedroom in anger.

Hotch turned his attention to the brunette beside him, who was rubbing her aching shoulder and reached over taking her free hand, giving it a squeeze of support.

"You don't think we were too hard on her, were we?" she asked, dropping her right hand onto his own.

"No," Hotch adamantly declared, "Amy needs to understand that there are consequences to her actions, even well intended ones."

Leaning back on the couch, Emily rubbed her good hand across her forehead muttering under her breath.

"What?" Hotch asked, focusing his attention on her, "Are you in pain?"

"Yeah but not physical" she told him, "There's something going on with the kids, and I don't think it has anything to do with this..." she pointed down to the bandage covering her wound, "I should have come back sooner. Maybe I could have fixed this, or it wouldn't be this bad..."

"You don't know that," Hotch said, his hand going to her knee as he turned on the couch to look at her, "You thought you were doing what was best for everyone, which was to do your job."

"A lot of good that did us" Emily muttered, "A killer is still on the loose, our kids are in trouble at school, and I feel like a failure as a parent. Why didn't anyone tell us things were getting this bad?"

"Emily" Hotch sighed taking her good hand in his own, "Sweetheart, there was no way anyone could have predicted this. We know are children, we know how wonderful they are..."

"But there's something going on with Jack" Emily interjected, "And I don't even know what to think about what's going on with Amy" she paused, "Aaron, I'm just so worried..."

Amy held her stuffed dinosaur, Dean, close to her chest sighing. This wasn't how she pictured her life turning out after agreeing to move in with Hotch and Emily. She didn't want to put any pressure on them, knowing what they dealt with daily in the field.

Quietly opening her bedroom door, Amy silently made her way down the hallway, pausing when she heard her parents voices emanating from the living room.

"What do we do about this, Aaron?" Emily asked defeated, "We've tried everything, and nothing is working."

"I don't know, Emily, I don't know" Hotch answered, "There's not much left to do, I mean, we tried getting her to open up, but we can't force her to talk. This has to be her choice."

"This is getting to be too much," Emily sighed, "Aaron, I've tried being patient and understanding but it's not working. Every time I think we're making progress she does something that takes it all away. "

"We just have to hang in there." Hotch murmured, while the girl moved backwards to her bedroom as her heart broke at hearing what her parents thought of her.

Her complete heartache became more precedent when she heard Emily add, "I don't know how much more I can take of this. I don't think I can do this anymore."

Closing her bedroom door, Amy shut off the lights neglecting her homework along with the multiple chimes coming from her laptop as she laid down on her bed, holding her stuffed dinosaur close to her chest.

As the weeks rolled on, both Hotch and Emily saw their children slowly withdrawing from social scenes, even after returning their privileges, it was obvious that both Jack and Amy weren't acting like themselves.

It was disconcerting to everyone that cared about the Hotchner family, that they were changing before their very eyes.

"Here we go," Emily said, turning around to look about children, "I'll see you both after school. Have a good day."

"Bye" Jack murmured, getting out without either Emily or Amy's help.

"Have a good day, sweetheart," Emily told Amy, who only gave her a blank look, "Are you all right, Amy?"

"I'm fine, Emily." she replied before slamming the car door.

Amy sat in her first period classroom, drumming her short nails on the desk ignoring the inquisitive looks of Zach, Chelsea and Lily.

Her mind replaying the conversation over and over, taunting her. Telling her that she wasn't good enough to be a part of the Hotchner family.

"Amy?" Ms. Forrester called out, "Amy?"

"What?" she snapped, her eyes meeting the older woman's, instinctively knowing that everyone in the classroom was watching, "Yes, Ms. Forrester?"

The teacher walked towards the girl's desk placing a pass on it. The brunette picked it up, she internally rolled her eyes when she read that she had another appointment with Carter again.

"Great," she muttered quietly, ignoring the imploring eyes of her friends.

"Ames?" Chelsea mumbled, "Everything ok?"

"Peachy," she said, shoving the note into her pocket, "Just peachy."

"Ok," the other girl quietly replied, "Did the parents really go postal about the attack on the playground monitor?"

"Not really," she quickly answered, opening her class book, ignoring the girl beside her.

"Guess that's a clue to not ask her anything else," Lily instructed Chelsea, "Which is fine by me."

Trying to distract her mind, she kept her eyes trained on the text-book in front of her but not really processing what she was reading. Tuning out everything around her, the only thing she kept hearing was last night's conversation between Hotch and Emily. Though she did loved the Hotchner family more than anything in the entire world, she knew that it was better to leave then be thrown out like yesterday's trash. She already been abandoned one too many times to let anyone hurt her again.

She lied when she told Carter that she didn't think about her biological parents anymore. She did think of them, wonder what it would have been like had Evelyn kept her, wondered if what it would have been like had her biological father known about her. She wondered...

She wondered why a paper wad hit her in the back of the head, which made her turn around to a smug looking Zach.

"Very funny," she mouthed to her friend's boyfriend, as she ran her hand through her hair pulling at the paper in her dark hair.

"Gross," she muttered, flicking out the paper wad, only to be pelted with another. This time the paper hit her shoulder bouncing on to the chair.

Turning around, she glared at Zach, hissing out, "Knock it off, jerk."

At that, both Chelsea and Lily turned around staring at the commotion going on beside them.

"What's going on?" Chelsea asked, turning to look at the chuckling boy behind her, a paper wad landing square in the middle of her forehead, "Ew, Zach!"

Amy felt a wave of anger and humiliation once the class started laughing.

"Students!" Ms. Forrester's loud voice called out, then blew a whistle startling the room, "Pays to be an ex-gym teacher."

As the laughing slowly quieted down, Amy silently took in a deep breath trying to quell her rising temper. It would be so easy for her to act out now, and that's what she wanted to do but it wouldn't do any good. The best action for her, was no reaction.

"Amy, are you all right?" Ms. Forrester asked, seeing the girl silently nod, "Good, now class how about we all get back to your paper work and not act out?"

Returning to her pretense of studying, the brunette silently asked herself why this was happening to her? Why everything was falling around her at once. Was this some big cosmic joke, where whenever something good happens it's instantly snatched away? Her parents, Jack, and now her friends?

She didn't know, but this was it for her. There were decisions to be made, and she had a lot of thinking to do.

Looking up as the bell rang, Amy quickly moved out of the class ignoring the worried eyes of her friends.

"What's wrong with Em?" Chelsea asked, gathering up her books turning to Lily.

"Who knows?" Lily replied, grabbing her bag, "Come on, we don't want to be late for Math."

The two girls walked out of the classroom, both noticing that Amy had her cell phone at her ear, but continued on to their next class.

"I'll call you as soon as I get out of school," Amy sighed, "Ok, me too. Bye."

Hearing the second bell ring, the brunette quickly turned the corner in the hall bumping into a passing person.

"Sorry," the voice called out.

"It's fine." the girl reciprocated before hurrying on towards her next class.

The smirking stranger watched the door close before continuing down the hallway of the school reminding themself that it would be happening soon.

* * *

 

"Life is either a great adventure or nothing." Helen Keller


	7. Always On Your Side

"Courage is the capacity to confront what can be imagined." Leo Rosten

* * *

Emily parked the SUV in front of the school looking from the main building to the smaller one beside it watching for her two children.

"Ugh, not again," she grumbled when she heard her cell phone ringing, "Prentiss. What? Are you sure? Give me a few minutes I'm picking Jack and Amy up... hold on here comes Jack."

Turning her head to the backseat she smiled at the flustered boy, "Hey sweetie. How was your day?"

"Fine." he muttered, buckling his seat belt he pulled out his video game, ignoring everything around him.

"Of course," the brunette murmured to herself. It's going to be another one of those days, she thought.

Looking back to the main building, she frowned when she saw her daughter walking out with a group of kids, a few she recognized but there was one boy standing behind Michael watching her.

Emily leaned back in her seat, her eyes watching the boy who was watching Amy, "Huh, that's weird" turning around in the seat, "Jack?"

"Yeah?" he asked, looking up regretfully from his game, "What?"

"Do you see that boy over there?" Emily asked, pointing to the small group that paused at the sidewalk.

"Yeah, what about him?" he asked, keeping his gaze focused on his sister's friends.

"Do you know him?" she asked, looking back over at her son, "The one in the blue and grey shirt."

Jack looked passed the group to the dark-haired boy behind her, "Uh huh, that's Ryan."

"Ryan," she repeated, narrowing her eyes as the boy slowly walked over to the group, "What do you know about him?"

Jack furrowed his eyebrows, then turned to Emily, "He just moved here to be with his Daddy. I think his Mommy is taking care of her sister. And..."

"And what?" the brunette asked her son. Emily could feel that there was something that wasn't right, "Jack?"

"Well," the boy blew out, his fingers tracing over the video game in his hands, "I'm not suppose to snoop, Daddy said so."

"Sweetie," she softly said, "If there's something potentially dangerous that could affect..." she watched Jack's face scrunch up in confusion, "If it's important then you have to tell me or your Dad."

Jack looked back to the crowd then set his video game down on top of his backpack, "I know I'm not suppose to listen to others conversation but I did," he took a deep breath, looking sheepish, "Amy was on the computer video messaging her friends about Ryan."

Emily cocked her head to the side, stunned by that but the shamed look made her refrain from saying anything, "Well, did you know what they talked about?"

The boy pursed his lips together, "Something about Ryan liking her, but Amy said she didn't."

Emily's instantly went to the waiting children, zeroing in on her daughter then to Ryan and frowned. She let out a small smile watching Michael pull Amy into a tender hug then dropping a kiss to her cheek before she pulled away heading to the awaiting SUV.

"Ew," Jack mumbled, going back to his video game while Emily tried to appear casual at seeing her daughter with her boyfriend.

The brunette was instantly startled by a knock on the car window, the brunette turned around tried to control her rapidly beating heart.

Looking over at the man standing at her driver side window, he gave the agent a warm, friendly smile. Rolling down her window, she gave the man a once over, "Yes?"

"Hi, are you Amy Hotchner's mother?" he asked, looking at a slip of paper in his hand, "Emily Prentiss?"

"That depends, what did she do?" Emily asked, noticing Jack's head pop up while Amy approached the car.

The man frowned at that, but shook his head, "I'm her guidance counselor," he said, extending his hand, "Jerry Carter."

"Oh" she said, embarrassed, shaking his hand, "Crap, I'm sorry. Hello, yes I am her mother."

"I was wondering if there were any way that, we could talk about..." he saw Amy open the car door, "Speak about some issues."

"I guess so, is there a specific time" she started, reaching over in console of the car grabbing her day planner, "We could schedule something, depending on how my days are with my job..."

The man kneeled down next to the car while Emily went through her planner, "It looks like I'm free next Wednesday, all day."

"Wednesday it is," he answered, standing up, "Nice meeting you Mrs. Hotchner," acknowledging the girl buckling up, "Amy.

"Crap," the girl muttered, watching the older man leave, "What did he want?"

"Schedule a meeting," Emily informed her, "Is there anything going on that I need to be aware of before I get sandbagged?"

"Not that I know of," she shot Emily an non-amused look, "I haven't slugged anyone or anything in the past week."

"Good to know," Emily chuckled, while the girl stared out the window driving passed her friends heading home. A thought settled in her mind, how to make everything better for everyone. Biting her nail, she knew that not everyone was going to like it, but it's what needed to be done.

All seemed quiet on the home front with the kids, even while they were still holding something back, Amy seemed to be making headway not distancing herself. The girl, though silent, kept her focused attention on her brother and whatever it was that Jack was hiding.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hotchner?" Carter called out, opening his office door, "Please come in."

The concerned parents walked into the small office, taking a seat across from their daughter's guidance counselor.

"I'm sorry to have to pull you both away from your active schedules" Carter apologized, taking a seat across from the parents, "But this is a matter that I believe need be addressed right away."

"Is there something wrong with Amy?" Hotch asked, his eyes instantly traveling to Emily's hand and her instinctive habit to pick at her thumb nail, "We spoke with Principal McCall last week about our daughter and her incident with the playground monitor. How is she, by the way?"

Neither federal agent been pleased with the attack on the school official, but they understood Amy's need to protect Jack and they could admit that they would've done the same in her shoes.

But they'd never admit that, because they needed to set a good example of turning the other cheek.

"I've spoken with the principal and the school counselor, Ms. Simmons" Carter started, watching the two parents carefully, "And we've reached an agreement that Amy needs to seek therapy."

"Excuse me?" Emily asked stunned, looking over at an equally shocked Hotch.

"Where do you come off thinking my daughter needs professional help?" Hotch asked, his tone harsher than intended. He wasn't against seeking professional help, he had sought treatment after his attack and so had Emily, but this was about his child, "And what gives you a right to have a meeting this important about my child without my knowledge or permission?"

Emily's eyes shot over to the man, narrowing. There was something off about him, something that made her take note of his office and the plaques and degrees on the wall, but she couldn't for the life of her place it.

"I'm doing this for Amy's best interest, Mr. Hotchner," Carter told him, "I've spoken with two of Amy's teachers, and they've both alerted me of incident, disruptions, in class."

"What kind of disruptions?" Emily asked, her eyes going to Hotch, "Why haven't we been told about this?"

"Last week, another student was throwing wadded up paper at Amy" Carter began, "And two days ago, she was hit by a basketball."

"She got hit with a basketball?" Hotch asked, "What kind of school allows someone to pick on another student? Who threw the basketball?"

"Mr. Hotchner, what we're trying to do is getting to the heart of the matter," Carter told him, "I don't know how these incidents have started, or what led to them but something is seriously wrong here. We, the school and I, think it would be beneficial for Amy to have someone to open up to."

Emily bit her lip, although her gut was telling her that there was something peculiar about this man, she knew his reasoning was correct. Amy had been off for past few weeks, and having someone to talk to would be the wise thing to do, she just wished it had been her or Hotch's idea.

"Look, it's not like we're dismissing the idea of Amy talking to someone" Emily started, pursing her lips while Hotch's head turned to look at her, "However, I think it would be better if we, as her parents, handled it ourselves instead of involving the school."

"Mrs. Hotchner..." Carter protested, only for Emily to raise her hand.

"Mr. Carter," Emily interjected, "This is a private family matter and we'll handle this ourselves. End of discussion."

"Very well," Carter sighed, he could see that neither parent would back down, "I should also inform you that we've warned your daughter about making phone calls during class."

"What?" Hotch asked, "She's been making calls during class?"

"Well text messages really" Carter replied, picking up his pen, "Her math teacher told Amy that if she takes another one during class she would be taking her cell phone away."

Emily winced, they had just given her back her privileges and now they were going to have to take them away. Again.

"We'll speak with her about that too," Emily muttered, clearing her throat, "If that's all, we need to get back to work."

"Thank you for coming in," Carter stood up from behind his desk, leaning forward to shake an aloof Hotch's hand then Emily's.

"Mm hmm," Hotch replied, before the two agent left the small office.

Walking out of the office, the couple walked down the crowded hallway trying to pass through a sea of students when Emily spotted her daughter.

"There she is," Emily murmured, nodding towards the middle of the quad to the girl sitting at.

"Who's that with her?" he asked, watching as his daughter looked down at her cell phone.

"Ryan," Emily dryly replied, he sent her a perplexed look, "I'll explain it later."

"Please do," he muttered, "I'd hate to learn later on that my daughter is playing the field..." he winced at that, "Why did I have to go and say that?"

The brunette chuckled, giving his tightening fist a sympathetic squeeze, "Come on, let's go check on Jack."

Taking his hand, the brunette led the concerned father down the hallway towards the younger grade's wing of the school.

Amy looked up, hearing the second bell alerting her that she needed to get moving to her next class but another chime from her cell phone made her eyes return to the small screen.

_'See you soon'_

"Yes you will." the girl murmured, pocketing her phone before grabbing her books and rushing to her classroom.

As she turned the corner, she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She knew that feeling, one that she'd been experiencing since her return to school. Someone was watching.

Tossing the cigarette that they had smoked on to the ground, the silent observer stamped the butt out before thrusting their hands in the pockets of their dark coat and walked towards the school grounds before hearing the ringing of their cell phone.

"Hello?" they replied, pausing a chuckle escaping their throat, "Did you do it? Well stay on top of this, I do not want anything to deter the plans. It won't be long now. Bye."

Once the last bell rang for the day, Amy gathered up her books and quickly made her way outside hurrying to her locker. Pausing as she unlatched the lock, she jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder causing the girl to spin around.

"Whoa there," Michael chuckled, "You all right?"

"I will be in a minute," she exhaled, "So, what's up?"

"What's up?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow, "How about what's the matter?"

"Nothing, everything is good," Amy chuckled, turning around to shove her books into the locker before pulling out her Lit book, "I promise."

"Amy," Michael tenderly said, placing his warm hand on her hips, turning her slightly to face him, "I can tell something is the matter, what is it?"

"I just..." she exhaled before biting her lower lip, "I'm just worried about that meeting with Carter."

"You have another meeting with him?" Michael asked stunned, "Didn't you have one with him last week?"

"Yeah," then shook her head, "But not me, it's Hotch and Emily."

"Your parents?" he hissed sympathetically, "Damn, that's gonna suck."

"I know," she said, turning to close her locker emitting a relieved sigh, "But I don't want to think about that now. I want to..."

"Make out?" he teased, smirking as she playfully shoved at him, "No, I kid, unless you want to?"

Smiling at him, Amy held her books tightly against her chest, "Have you no shame?"

"Not really," Michael joked, pulling her close to him, "So how long are you still grounded for?"

Resting her head against his chest, "Well they said for maybe another week unless I lighten up."

"Lighten up how?" Michael asked, pressing a kiss on her forehead, "Hmm?"

"I don't know," she admitted, "Being nicer, less crazy and not knocking people on their butts."

"Yeah that was a good one," he chuckled before clearing his throat, "Do you think you could talk your parents into letting you out for the night, so we can get the gang back together?"

"Including Zach?" Amy asked, instantly wondering if she'd need to bring a helmet to protect her head from spit wads.

"Why not him?" the boy asked, pulling back, "What exactly happened between the two of you? You use to be friends."

"I don't know," she shrugged, "Something must have crawled up his butt and died. He's been acting like a jerk the past few weeks."

"I've noticed," Michael murmured, pulling her into a hug, "You want me to talk to him?"

"No, I don't want to cause any problems between the two of you," she sighed, "I'll just have to bring a raincoat to protect me from his spit wads."

"You let me worry about Zach," he told her, holding her close while he noticed Carter walking down the hallway their eyes connecting before the older man walked into the teacher's lounge, "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's get out of here," she shivered as he wrapped an arm around her leading them to the parking lot.

As the young couple walked out the gate, the silent observer smirked walking out the side gate towards their own car.

* * *

"Live a good life. In the end it is not the years in a life, but the life in the years." Abraham Lincoln


	8. Bad Moon Rising

"Some of us are just trying to make it through the day without falling apart." Author Unknown

* * *

 _"There is still no leads in the babysitter murders,"_ the male voice on the radio announced, _"The FBI has issued another statement informing everyone to stay on high alert. A source close to the Bureau stated that the latest victim Olivia Salerno had gash wounds all along the upper torso..."_

"And that's enough of that," Michael muttered, switching the radio over to the cd player then wincing at the sound of Justin Bieber's voice, "Hey Ashley, crap taste in music. What the hell is it with you girls and this guy?"

A pin drop could have been heard as the room suddenly fell silent.

"What?" Michael asked looking from Ashley to Amy then Chelsea, "I'm not afraid to say it," holding up the cd, "This guy sucks."

"No, that guy sucks," Lily muttered looking up from the couch, "Who the hell invited you?"

"Zach did," Ryan stated, standing in the door way, "I hope it's all right?"

"It's all right with me," Chelsea smiled, looking over at her two friends, "Right?"

Amy looked over to Ashley with a raised eyebrow only for the girl to roll her eyes in disgust, "Whatever."

Shrugging the brunette moved over to the radio perusing the cd collection with Michael.

"Come sit by me," Chelsea grinned, walking the boy over to the couch, "Ew, what's that smell?"

Perplexed, Ryan looked around, "I don't know?"

Chelsea turned around on the couch, leaning to look over the back of the couch, "Oh God, ew Zach. That's disgusting."

Ashley's head tilted up at that, "What? What did he do?"

The girl marched over with her two friends trailing behind her, "Ew, gross."

"That's... that's perverted," Amy muttered, turning around, "I think I need some air."

The girl shook her head as she wandered out to the back.

Torn, Michael decided to check out what his friend was up to, walked over to the back of the couch, "Dude, what the hell is that?"

The smirking boy sat up, "These my friend are sex toys," he held up one of the objects, "You will not believe the crap Ash's mom has in her closet."

The girl's face went crimson red at that, she leaned down, "Give me that, you little pervert!"

"Me the pervert?" Zach laughed, tossing the offending devices to Michael and Ryan who let his fall to the floor, "I'm not the one with the fiend for a mom. I mean, seriously? What is this crap?"

"Looks like lube," Lily replied, crinkling her nose at the bottle, "Ew, and by the looks of it, almost empty too."

The humiliated girl lost all sense at that, reaching down she grabbed her boyfriend by the scruff of his shirt collar.

"Uh oh," Chelsea muttered, her eyes trailing down to the ground, "This is not gonna be pretty."

Ryan's eyes widened when he heard a painful cry escape the boy's lips, "Is she really..."

"Yep." both girls uttered, though Lily was smirking at that.

"And none of you are gonna..." he trailed off watching the two girl's faces blankly look at him while Michael kept his eyes trained on the front door that Amy wandered out with her phone attached to her ear.

"You're suppose to protect me, not humiliate me!" the girl screeched, her booted heel colliding with his side.

"Whoa, whoa" Amy cried out, rushing back into the house completely stunned by the sight before her, "What the hell is going on? I leave for two seconds and come back to an underground fight club?"

The girl reached out, pulling her best friend back only to be met with a slap across the face. That made both Michael and Ryan pull the girls a part.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Amy asked, her hand touching her aching cheek, "Ash?"

"Don't you dare defend him to me!" Ashley bellowed, the entire house silent at the girl's sudden outburst, "You think I don't see the way he looks at you?"

"Who?" both Amy and Michael asked in unison, both dark-haired teens stunned by the oddity of the fidgeting girl.

"You and him!" Ashley screamed, "It wasn't bad enough that you stroll on my block, but you had to get Michael and now Zach too?"

"What?" the three accused chimed out.

"You want Zach" Ashley accused her, "You think I'm blind? You think I'm dumb? Well I'm not."

"I don't know what you're smoking but I don't want Zach" Amy denied, "Hell I don't even like him, let alone want him touching me."

"Thanks a lot" he muttered, "Ash, baby, you know there's no one else for me but you."

"Unless it's some ugly skank, right?" Ashley scoffed.

"Let go of me" Amy muttered, wrenching free from her boyfriend's grasp, "Look, I will not let you get away with accusing me of being some backstabbing friend, I certainly won't let you call me a skank."

"What are you going to do about it?" Ashley challenged, raising an eyebrow.

"You're nothing but a pathetic bully" Amy scoffed, turning to walk away.

"That's what I thought, chicken shit" Ashley taunted, "Go on, run on home like the little orphan you are."

That halted the girl's steps, slowly turning around she slapped the girl across the face while the stunned bully quickly moved into action by grabbing a handful of Amy's dark hair.

"You really wanna go there?" Ashley shouted, unaware of the failed attempt of the three boys trying to separate them.

"Should we try to stop them?" Chelsea asked Lily.

"And end up on Ash's shit list?" Lily replied leaning back, "Pass."

"You are so over, you hear me orphan?" Ashley's voice said, getting louder, "Over, consider this your final notice. You are over."

Both Ryan and Zach pulled the uncontrollable girl out of the living room leaving the couple and the two girls alone.

"Are you ok?" Michael asked, his eyes scanning her face taking note of the scratches on her neck and the tousled hair, "She didn't hurt you... too bad did she?"

"I'll live" Amy shrugged off the concerned, "Look I'm gonna get out of here, there's only so much a girl can take in one day, and I've reached my quota this month."

"Come on, I'll drive you home," Michael offered, extending his hand.

Looking down at the proffered hand, she shook her head, "I'd rather walk. I need to clear my head."

"You want one of us to go with you, Ames?" Chelsea offered, but Lily rolled her eyes.

"She's a big girl, she'll be fine" Lily told her, "You take care now, Amy."

The girl rolled her eyes before gathering up her purse and coat then walking to the door, she turned giving the trio one final look before leaving.

Silently walking down the darkening street, Amy paused under a lamp post to check her watch, "Nine fifteen, ok I won't be totally screwed, it's not like they won't be looking for me until after ten."

The girl knew it was wrong to lie to her parents, but as asinine as her current mind-set had been the past few weeks but she thought that if it saved everyone heartache in the end, then that was all that mattered.

As she continued on her journey, ignoring the ringing from her cell phone, she stopped at the corner that led to her own block.

If she turned left, she'd be home in ten minutes; but if she turned right could go anywhere in the world. That made her pause, as she prepared to step off the curb a car pull up beside her.

"Hey," a voice called out, making the brunette turn to look at the driver.

"I can't believe you let her go out, Aaron" Emily grumbled, "What's the point of being the bad cop if you were only going to second guess yourself later on?"

"Because, I'm tired of being the bad parent" Hotch told her, "I would like for once not to be the one that has to discipline my children. I would like..."

"To be the popular parent" Emily finished, "Children need structure and guidance. There's a reason that rules need to be enforced. Your words remember?"

"I'm just..." Hotch sighed, sinking low on the couch, "I've just never had a daughter before and I don't want her to hate me."

Wrapping her arms around Hotch's waist, the brunette laid her head upon his shoulder, "She's our daughter, Aaron, she's suppose to hate us. It's part of the children-parent handbook."

"Jack doesn't hate me," Hotch murmured, his eyes trailing to the family photo on the coffee table, "To him I'm..."

"His super hero" Emily finished with a smile, tilting her head to look at him, "But honey, Jack's seven, he's not old enough to know that parents are the enemy."

Hotch interlaced his fingers with her own, "I know, Emily, I know. I just don't want to screw up," turning around to look at her, "How are you so calm about all this?"

"I don't know" she admitted, "Maybe when we get the official paperwork that says Amy is legally our daughter then I'll freak out. Besides only one of us can have a one meltdown at a time, and I guess you've chosen to be the first one."

"Ok, ok, fine. I concede" he chuckled, escorting them over to the large couch, "But don't worry about Amy. She's a smart, perceptive and responsible girl..."

"Who beat the crap out of a playground monitor" she interjected, "Aaron, I know there's something wrong with her."

"Sweetheart," Hotch soothingly whispered, "Despite all that, our daughter" he paused locking his gaze on hers, "Our daughter is a Prentiss-Hotchner through and through. Amy made a mistake but she admitted that. Maybe she'll start opening up once we get her to a therapist."

"You think so?" she asked, "I liked to believe so, but the last few weeks with the school, the attitude and with what Garcia said..."

"What did Garcia say?" he asked.

"Well," Emily started, taking a deep breath, "Garcia told me that Amy wanted her to look into something but she got sidetracked by the case."

"Well what did Amy tell her?" Hotch asked, "Why she turn to Garcia and not us? We're her parents."

Emily shook her head, "I don't know, but I honestly don't like it. We need to get Garcia to tell us what's going on."

"I'm surprised that she hasn't told us yet," Hotch pondered, "I mean the woman can barely keep a secret let alone one involving the kids."

"Are you kidding me?" Emily asked sitting up, "That woman is the Fort Knox of secrets, she'd never blab if she thought that it would curry favor with the kids, especially Amy."

"I suppose" Hotch sighed, "We're going to have to sit down and have a long conversation about..."

Emily looked up when she heard him pause, "What is it?"

"What time is it?" he asked, peering over her shoulder to look at the clock.

"It's a quarter to ten" she answered, turning around to look at him, "Wait, what time did you tell her to be home by?"

"Ten" he sighed, "I'm sure everything will be fine."

Pursing her lips, there was that gnawing feeling again, one that told her something was wrong but she didn't know what.

"Aaron, maybe you should..." she paused when she heard a meow coming from behind them. Turning around she narrowed her eyes, "Jack Hotchner, what are you doing up so late?"

"Nothing" he murmured quietly, picking up Sergio, the boy had a guilty look on his face, "Just getting my cat."

Hotch raised an eyebrow at that, "Jack, go back to bed."

The boy bent over, picking up the meowing dark cat when he frowned, "What's this?"

Jack held up a wadded up paper passing it to the two adults, Hotch gabbing onto the paper first. Slowly reading the paper, he looked over it once again then dropped the note running out of the living room.

"Aaron?" the brunette called out, picking up the paper, "Aaron?"

Her eyes quickly scanned the contents of note, gasping she followed her husband out of the living room down the hallway then up the stairs pausing at the end of the hallway.

"Aaron?" she whispered, "Tell me it's not true."

Standing in the doorway of the bedroom, he slowly turned around looking at her, "I wish I could, but she's gone."

"What, she just left?" she asked, rushing to the doorway she stared, "Where? Where did our daughter go?"

Hotch looked at the note in her hand, "She didn't want to be ours anymore."

The brunette crumpled the note in her hand as her back hit the door slinking to the floor, "What the hell happened?"

"I have no idea," he muttered, his eyes scanning the bedroom looking for something out of place, to give either of them a clue as to the change in Amy, "What's that boy's number?"

"Michael's number should be in her address book," she whispered standing up and making her way to the unmade bed. She remembered how many times she argued with the girl about keeping her room tidy, now she couldn't fathom the idea.

Sitting down on the bed, she picked up the stuffed dinosaur, holding it close to her chest. All she wanted was her daughter back.

"Michael?" Hotch's voice clipped out, "This is Agent Hotchner, Amy's father" he paused, looking over to Emily who was holding onto the stuffed dinosaur for dear life, "What do you mean fight?"

That caught Emily's attention. The mother's instincts going into overdrive as she lifted her head from the plush green animal to Hotch's eye line.

"Why would...?" he paused, "Oh, I see" pacing around the cluttered bedroom he stopped in front of the window, "Well how long ago was that?" he turned towards the window, overlooking the darkened sky, "No. Where is she?"

"Aaron?" Emily called out, "What is it?"

"If she shows up or calls you call me immediately" Hotch said, "Oh and Michael? This conversation is far from over. Believe me, we will speak again."

Hanging up his cell phone, Hotch emitted a sigh. How was he going to tell Emily this?

* * *

C.S. Lewis said, "When things go wrong, you'll find they usually go on getting worse for some time; but when things once start going right they often go on getting better and better."


	9. I Fall To Pieces

"If you don't understand my silence, how will you understand my words?" Author Unknown

* * *

If she hadn't been so consumed with his wording, Emily would have chastised Hotch for his tone with Michael, but at the moment her only concern was what had happened to her daughter.

"Aaron!" she called out louder when Hotch refused to turn around, "What the hell happened? What was that about a fight?"

Anger coursing through her, she grabbed onto Hotch's shoulder roughly turning him halfway to look at her.

"Goddamn it Aaron," Emily hissed, "Now is not the time to go mute on me. What did Michael say? What was the fight about?"

"Amy..." he began, pinching the bridge of his nose, "And Ashley..."

"What about them?" she asked, her heart racing "What, did they have a fight? Aaron, did Amy hurt Ashley?"

"No," he paused, the brunette's eyes narrowed at that, "Ashley hurt her."

"What?" she asked stunned that the girl would even think of harming her own best friend, "Wait, how?"

"I don't know all the details," he told her, "Michael said something about a misunderstanding and I think something about gel? I don't know."

"Gel?" she repeated, "Our daughter and that... that girl fought over gel?"

"I know that's not it," he assured her, "But as soon as we find her, we're going to get to the bottom of that and this."

Hotch looked around her room, "Where's her diary?" he saw the look of surprise on her face, "I know it's wrong to go snooping around but we need to find out what's going on in her head."

Looking at the clock, "Aaron, it's after ten, and she's not home" she told him, "You need to call the team."

A defeated look waned through him. He knew that they needed to find answers but calling in the team?

"Don't give me that look," she told him, "Our daughter either ran away or went somewhere to cool off, either way I want her home now."

"You think I don't?" Hotch snapped, instantly wincing when he saw the hurt flash across her face. He took a deep breath, he knew losing his temper wasn't going to help either of them, "Emily, we will find Amy and we're going to have a long conversation with her."

"No kidding," she muttered, setting the stuffed dinosaur on the bed, "Call Garcia. We need her here now."

Hotch stared down at his cell phone for a moment, willing it to ring, "Why Garcia?"

"Well you want Amy's diary, right?" she clipped out, when he looked up confused, "No teenage girl nowadays keeps physical diaries."

"What?" he asked puzzled.

Getting off the bed she walked over to him with a look of determination on her face.

"Every single teenage girl has a blog or an online journal," Emily informed him, "You really don't have a clue about girls do you?"

Grabbing the cell phone from his hand, she quickly dialed Garcia.

"Get over to my house now," she ordered, "Stop crying, no one is dead. At least I hope not," looking at him, "It's about Amy. Ok? Bye."

Handing him back his cell phone, "You need to snap out of whatever it is that's wrong with you, Aaron because we need to find Amy."

Walking towards the door, "I know you love her, but you need to start acting like the bad cop because this can never happen again."

He stood there in silence, not wanting to move as he processed what had gone through his mind ever since hanging up with Michael. Something he failed to inform Emily that the boy told him.

Amy was looking in to her biological father's background.

He had no idea how Emily would react to that, he could barely process that thought himself.

The one thing he did know, he wasn't going to give up on his family. And he certainly wasn't going to lose any of them.

As he walked back into the living room he saw Emily standing in front of the main window looking out at the street waiting.

"There she is," Hotch murmured walking to the front door while the brunette turned her gaze on him.

"Did you call Dave or Morgan?" she asked, watching as he opened the front door, "Aaron, you did call them, right?"

"Thank you for showing up so soon," he greeted the frazzled blonde.

"Where is she?" Garcia sniffled barging her way into the living room, "Where's my little Gumdrop?"

The blonde rushed over, pulling Emily into a hug, minding her still mending arm, "Don't you worry Emily, I'll find our girl and give her the talking to of a lifetime."

"Garcia..." Emily started only for the blonde to cut her off.

"I swear on my PC that I'll put a lo-jack on the mini one," Garcia promised, rambling, "GPS in her cell phone, and a tracking chip in her arm and voilà that girl won't even be able to sneeze without me knowing of it."

"Garcia focus," Emily said, ignoring the pounding in her aching head, "Focus, please, focus."

"OMG, I am so sorry," the blonde adamantly apologize, "Here I go on rambling when you, Amy's parents have to be going out of your mind with worry, anger and so many emotions..."

"Garcia," Hotch said, clearing his dry throat, "We need you to run a trace on Amy's cell phone and try to find any blogs, journal or what-have-yous on her laptop."

"On my duty, bossman" the blonde said gathering up the laptop that Hotch held onto, "Wait a minute..."

"What?" Emily asked, her heart sparked with hope that maybe the analysis had found something soon, "Did you find something?"

"What?" Garcia asked, shaking her head remorsefully, "No, not yet sweetie."

"Then what is it, Garcia?" Hotch asked.

"Well um," she paused, knowing it was best to spit it out since neither parent looked in the mood to make idle chit chat, "Where's the rest of the team? Aren't they going to help us find our little runaway... I mean our girl?"

Emily's eyes shot over to Hotch, "Where is everyone, Aaron?"

"Emily," Hotch sighed sitting down on the couch, clasping his fingers together "This isn't that kind of emergency, honey. She ran away, is it important that we find her? Yes, and we will find her. But we can't send out the team on something like this..."

"Something like this?" she repeated, the blonde gasping as she picked up the laptop hurrying into the dining room, "Aaron I'm not asking you to send out the National Guards but I would have thought that you wanted extra hands at finding your daughter."

Hotch sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I do, Emily, I really do but we can't just go in there without..."

"Without what?" she asked, trying to control herself from raising her voice, "Without what, Aaron? What if this were Jack? Huh, you'd scour the Earth from Heaven to Hell for him."

"Of course I would," Hotch said, watching Emily's face fall while Garcia kept her eyes trained on the laptop screen in front of her.

"But not for Amy, right?" she demanded, "You won't for her."

"Emily, we..." he started, watching her turn around marching over to the unusually silent blonde.

Hotch sighed, watching as she effectively shut herself off and him out, neither of which he liked.

Emily leaned over next to the sitting blonde, "Anything yet?"

"No, I'm sorry" she apologized, "Kudos to the mini Gumdrop and her semi-decent computer skills," looking up at the unimpressed woman, "I mean, I can crack through this and I will... I'm going to shut up now."

"It's not you, Garcia" the brunette muttered, taking a seat next to Garcia, "It's me, I failed as a mother."

"What?" the blonde gasped in shock, "Don't you ever say that again, Emily Prentiss. You are the best mother that little girl ever needed."

"No I'm not," she sullenly replied, "I didn't even recognize she was in trouble. What kind of mother can't see that her own child her needed her the most?"

"Every single parent on Earth," Garcia said, pulling the reluctant brunette into a hug, "God Emily, don't you think that there would never be any problematic children if there were perfect parents? Perfect parents don't exist outside of the Stepford Wives. Take it from one problem child herself, you're doing a fab job with Amy and Jack."

"You could be so sweet sometimes," Emily said, "Even when you're lying."

"It's all part of my charm," the blonde grinned, then leaned in, "I can send JJ a quick email to have her and Will help. I mean if we can't round-up the calvary then we can use the help of two other parents, one of whom happens to be a cop."

The brunette glanced over her shoulder to the equally downtrodden Hotch, then turned back to her friend, "Do it."

"Can and will," Garcia quickly went back to the computer, "And done."

Emily quietly got up, walking through the unusually quiet home into the kitchen. Her mind instantly flashing to the first time they all sat at the breakfast table together, as a family.

_"You know you're my big sister now, right?" Jack told Amy._

_"Yep," she grinned, "So I guess that makes me the boss."_

_"Uh uh" Jack shook his head in protest, "No, you're not."_

_"Yes, I am." Amy teased._

_"Actually I am the boss," Hotch interjected watching the two children look up at him, "After all I am the father."_

_"Well I'm the mom and the wife" Emily smirked, "So technically that makes me the boss."_

_"Why does it make you the boss?" Hotch asked with a raised eyebrow._

_"Because I'm also the one cooking your dinner," Emily said turning back to the stove, "And unless you like your pork chops Cajun style you'll all drop this conversation."_

_"The boss has spoken," Hotch whispered, shooting the two kids a wink._

Emily sniffled as she sank down into the kitchen chair, she could feel her chest tighten. She didn't know which was worst, the worst case scenario running through her head or the not knowing that was killing her. She understood that being a teenager was hard, she felt that way too but she wanted Amy to come to her and Hotch to talk about it, not run off. And certainly didn't want her to run away without telling her what was wrong.

"Oh my God," she murmured quietly, a pounding headache growing as she worried where Amy was.

Numerous thoughts ran through her. If Amy was alone, cold, or God forbid if someone was approaching her...

"Aah!" the brunette shrieked when she felt a hand land on her shoulder.

"Emily, it's me" a soothing voice comforted her.

"JJ?" she said, looking up to see the heartache in the young blonde's blue eyes.

The blonde embraced the distraught mother, murmuring comforting words that she knew didn't do any good to the mother's broken heart.

"Will's out there with everyone else," JJ said, pulling out of the hug and tenderly wiped away a tear, "Come on."

"Everyone?" Emily asked, "What?"

JJ looked surprised, "You didn't think I wouldn't call in reinforcements right?" giving the brunette a squeeze on the shoulder, "I'm a mother, and believe me when I tell you no one other then another mother knows how you're feeling right now."

"Thank you JJ," Emily whispered, taking a deep breath, "I guess we better get in there."

As the blonde wrapped her arm around her pseudo-sister and best friend, she wondered just how the woman had been able to hold herself together for so long, then she remembered with a wry smile, that this was Emily Prentiss. The woman can hold it together no matter how much pain she was in, she'd keep herself composed for those around her.

That's why she was the anchor in their group, the one who everyone else turned to. That's when JJ made a vow to herself that no matter what she would be there for her friend, and find her daughter.

"Anything baby girl?" Morgan asked peering over her shoulder when he caught sight of the two female agents, "Don't you worry, Princess we'll find her and give her a good... Ow, what?"

"Derek," Garcia hissed, eyeing the athletic man, "Don't."

Clearing his throat, "We'll find her, Princess."

Dave walked passed the brunette, squeezing her hand reassuringly, before taking a seat at the table, "Looking over Amy's day planner, I see here that she had some sort of date arranged with Michael? Do either of you know if there was some sort of falling out between the two of them?"

"No," Emily cleared her throat, "They're fine, according to Aaron they two of them were at some study group at Ashley's."

"Ashley?" Garcia asked, "You mean that spoiled little... brat?" shaking her head, "That girl has no manners."

"Spoiled brat?" Hotch asked, "She always seemed nice to me."

"Men," Garcia scoffed looking up at JJ and Emily, "You know what it was like with girls in high school right?"

"Right," JJ said, moving over to sit next to Will on the couch, peering down at the phone book, "I mean not all girls are mean but there was something about Ashley that rubbed me the wrong way."

"How so, Chère?" Will asked, picking up the day planner, "Have either of you thought to call some of her friends from the old school?"

"Not really," Hotch admitted, then looked at the clock, "It's too late to call them."

"So what do you want us to do, Hotch?" Reid asked, looking through all the school work that was in Amy's backpack, "Do you want us to call tomorrow or..."

"We'll split up the contacts in her address book and Garcia can pull out the ones online from her cell phone," Hotch told the group, "And try to track her down that way. The rest of you go home and try to get some sleep."

The team looked disbelieving at the man but remained put.

"Hotch man, we're not going anywhere" Morgan told him, before sharing a look with Emily, "That girl is family to all of us."

"Besides who needs beauty sleep when I'm already fab?" Garcia teased.

Emily shot a look to Will and JJ, who vehemently shook their heads, "My mom's watching Henry, we're not going anywhere."

"You all..." Emily started, looking around at her friends, her family, then looked at the uncomfortable Hotch.

"I'm going to check on Jack," he said, leaving the room.

The three men on the team each shared a look, surprised by the unexpected reaction from their team leader. Will wrapped a comforting arm around JJ who wished more then anything she could snap her fingers and fix this for her friends.

Emily took a deep breath turning her focused attention back to the small pieces of information to finding Amy. She told herself not to break, to stay strong for her daughter.

The brunette girl in question sat quietly in a dark room, looking at the white walls around her.

"Hello?" Amy called out, looking up when she saw the door open.

"Hey Amy," the person said, "I know it's late, but I brought you something to eat. Are you hungry?"

Shaking her head, she watched as the person set the food down on a night stand and walked to the door, "Get some sleep, tomorrow's going to be... interesting."

"Wait, what happens tomorrow?" Amy asked.

The door closed, leaving the brunette teenager alone in the dark.

* * *

"Even if the whole world gives up on you, you always have yourself." Lady Gaga


	10. All Along The Watchtower

"If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere." Author Unknown

* * *

Emily stared at the cup of coffee that had been placed before her. JJ sank down into the seat beside her, patting her hand on the kitchen table.

"Garcia was finally able to opened Amy's online journal," JJ told her, "She had... _has_ three of them."

"Three?" Emily asked, "I wonder why three?"

"Well, I think one is about her friends, the second is her home life but Garcia still can't crack the third one," JJ answered, "She's calling Kevin in to help her."

"I knew I shouldn't have allowed her to take that computer class with Garcia," the brunette muttered, stirring the teaspoon in the mug, "She's too smart for her own good."

"How are you holding up?" Dave asked, poking his head into the kitchen.

"I'm fine," she answered, swallowing the lump in her throat "How goes it with the list of friends?"

"There are a few names that we can't track down yet," Dave informed her, "We're going to pay them a little visit."

"All right then, let's go..." Emily started to stand only for the blonde to pull her back down, "What?"

"You can't take part in the search, Em" JJ reminded her, "You're biased in this case."

"What and you're not?" Emily asked, "But if there's anyone who can do this and find her, it's me."

"And her father," Dave added, only to see both women roll their eyes at that, "I know Aaron's off..."

"That's putting it mildly," Emily muttered, "Look Dave it's nice that you want to fix everything, but right now my main focus is finding my daughter, not Aaron."

"Maybe that's where your problem is," Dave quietly pointed out, "Both of you are so focused on your own way of finding Amy that neither of you are engaging each other with finding her together."

Emily's jaw tightened at that. It wasn't like she didn't want to work with Hotch on finding their daughter, but he was closing himself off, not letting her in. How was she suppose to work with him if he kept himself shut off from their friends?

Shaking her head, she cleared her throat, "I'm not the one with the problem Dave, that'd be him out there."

"Emily," JJ softly said, "You can't base this on how you're feeling now. Your emotions are all out of sorts because your daughter ran away..."

"We can deal with this later," Emily said, standing up again, "Finding Amy is what's important now."

With that, the brunette walked out of the kitchen leaving the worried two to look on before following her into the living room.

Dave and JJ walked into the interrogation room, "You are aware that you agreed to come here voluntary, right?"

"Of course," the woman said, looking to her blonde daughter, "Ask away any questions, all we want to do is help, right Chelsea?"

"Yeah." the girl answered, trying to make herself as comfortable in the metal chair.

"Are you sure that Amy ran away?" Chelsea's mother asked the older man, "I mean that doesn't seem like her. She's so... responsible and smart."

"We really don't know anything yet," Dave said, turning his attention to the teenager, "Now Chelsea, can you tell us if anything unusual happened the past few days."

"What do you mean?" the blonde asked, her fingers tapping mindlessly on the dining table, "Everything's been fine."

Both JJ and Dave exchanged a look, "Really?"

The girl's mother looked over at her, "Chelsea?"

"Yeah?" the girl meekly answered looking to her mother.

"You tell them the truth," the mother warned, "You hear me?"

"I am," Chelsea said, looking over at the two skeptical law officers, "Amy probably needed some time to chill out. I mean after Ashley threw her hissy fit she left."

"Where did Amy go?" Morgan questioned the bored teenager, who folded her arms across her chest.

"Now Agent Morgan, I'm sure Ashley doesn't know anything," the girl's mother started to protest.

"Oh I highly doubt that, ma'am" Morgan stated, "From what I've heard and read, your daughter here has quite the little temper on her."

"Well clearly that's not true," Ashley's mother said, "And even if it were, this has nothing to do with her friend running away."

"Ashley, does your mother know about that little party that you had last night?" Morgan asked, pulling out a cell phone, "Because according to your Facebook status and the pictures... well look at that, there was some serious damage going on in this picture."

"Can I see that?" the woman asked, eyeing her daughter as she took the phone from Morgan, "ASHLEY LORRAINE, what did I tell you about throwing a party while I am not home?"

"You said I could have people over," the blonde defended herself, "Well, I had people over."

"I said you could have a few friends over to study," Ashley's mother seethed, "I did not tell you that you could throw a block party."

The girl's hand came down on to the desk, "Keep this up and I'll stay with Daddy, you know he'd let me have a party."

"You want to live with your father and his twenty year old girlfriend, then go right ahead..." the woman said.

"With the way you rag on him, no wonder he left," Ashley snarled back, "You know it's not my fault you don't have a life..."

"Getting back to the important matter," Morgan interjected the family squabble, "Why did you attack Amy last night?"

"You did what?" Ashley's mother asked looking at her daughter.

"I'm telling you the girl went crazy," Lily said with a shrug, "I mean I've seen her lose her temper tons of time, especially after the whole cheerleading incident, but this time she went too far."

"You heard my client," Lily's family attorney said, "We're willing to stipulate to her not interceding to stop the fight but barring any charges we'll be more than cooperative with stating what happened."

"You do know this is just a questioning don't you?" Reid asked, "You are not under arrest, you haven't been read your Miranda rights nor have any charges been brought up. We just want to know a few things about Amy Hotchner and her whereabouts."

The attorney raised his finger before leaning in to Lily and whispering, the girl nodding.

"My client agrees to this on the sole basis that no one knows she spoke with you." the man told Reid, who looked back at the two-way mirror and nodding.

"Can do." Reid said.

"There's something you really need to know," the girl started, "I may come off, as some would say, a bitch."

"Huh," Emily scoffed from the two-way mirror, "That's an understatement."

"But that's just to protect my standing in the group," Lily paused, "Amy was, is, the new girl. And at Parks, what's new is usually what's the big ticket of the moment."

"How so?" Reid asked.

"She got Michael's attention over the summer, she became Ash's best friend since they practically lived on the same block," Lily sighed, "And not everyone liked that."

"Meaning?" Reid queried his eyebrow, it didn't really make sense to him, but then he started high school before he hit puberty.

"She got all the attention, the new guy Ryan liked her, and Ashley got jealous," Lily told him, "She does like her, but you know she was basically her frenemy."

"Frenemy?" he repeated.

"Friend to her face, basically hating her behind her back," Lily told him, "And lately Amy's seemed distant, different."

"Did you notice any unwanted attention or people asking about her lately?" Reid asked.

"Honestly, I haven't paid any attention to that," Lily admitted, "We hanged out with the same group but I really didn't pay any attention to... wait, there was something. Ryan."

"Ryan, the new boy?" Reid asked, "What about him?"

"Last week he made some comment about why she was out of school for so long," Lily shrugged, "And Ashley just stormed out."

"And?" Reid asked, confused about why that would upset Ashley since it involved Amy, "What happened?"

"There was something said about Ryan being lucky enough not to be punched in the face," Lily slowly said, "By Ashley."

"Why would you want to be friends with someone like that?" Reid asked, "Someone who constantly enjoys putting others down?"

"Better to be in the group then targeted," she shrugged, "Anyway, are we done now?"

Reid picked up the notes he had taken, standing up, "In a few minutes."

As he walked towards the door, "Agent Reid?"

"Yeah?" the young man paused turning to look at the girl.

"There might be one more thing, but I'm not sure if it's big or not." Lily started.

"Well, whatever it is, even if it's the littlest thing..." he started, ready to go off on tangent about the littlest facts when the girl blurted out something that stunned the man.

"The guidance counselor Mr. Carter" Lily paused, "The two times I spoke with him, he always asked me questions about Amy."

"What kind of questions?" Reid asked, his thoughts traveling to the worried parents behind the two way mirror.

"Carter," Emily muttered, walking out of the observation room heading towards the other room with the pure intent at getting answers from the one not talking.

Barging open the door, "You, start talking. Now."

"Mrs. Hotchner?" Michael asked confused.

"What do you know about Jerry Carter?" she asked, taking a seat across the metal table. Out of her peripheral vision she saw Hotch walk to the other side of the room but she kept her focused on the boy in front of her.

"He's the new guidance counselor," Michael stated, "And that's it."

"You haven't talked to him?" Hotch asked.

"Not really," Michael said, "My guidance counselor is Mrs. Hayes."

"But you do know that Amy's is Carter's, right?" Hotch asked, "Did she say anything about him?"

Michael folded his hands on the metal table, "She did say he was a little weird."

"Weird how?" Emily asked, "Did he say something that made her uncomfortable, did he do something?"

That's when Hotch and Emily's eyes locked onto each other, both had pain in their dark eyes but she quickly composed herself.

"I do remember after Amy had that... incident with Miss Johnson that I saw him talking with Amy and Jack while Miss Garcia was in the principal's office," Michael told the two, looking back at Hotch, "But she never told me what happened so I didn't think too much of it."

"Can you think of anything else that struck you as odd, the last few days?" Emily pressed on, "Did she say anything about someone following her, or upsetting her?"

"Well she was pretty upset about the whole, you know" Michael trailed off pointing to her shoulder, "And whatever's going on with Jack that's making him quiet."

The parents exchanged a look at that.

"Oh and she really didn't like having to continually go into Mr. Carter's office to talk to him," Michael quickly added, "And she kept dodging that old friend's calls."

"What old friend?" Hotch asked.

"Um," the boy furrowed his eyebrows together, "Chloe?"

"Zoe," Emily corrected, "Thank you."

The two swiftly left the interrogation room, only to hear Michael call out, "You're going to find her, right?"

Reid left the other interrogation room, looking upset as he approached the concerned parents.

"What happened?" Emily asked, "What did Lily say?"

"She said the whole incident started over Zach finding Ashley's mother's personal items," he paused licking his lips, "Her adult personal items," he watched Emily's eyebrow shoot up at that, "And somehow that preceded into a fight between Amy and Ashley."

"Did she say what about?" Hotch asked.

"Over Zach," Reid told him, "Apparently Ashley accused Amy of trying to steal her boyfriend away and that lead to Ashley attacking her."

"Nice kid," Emily muttered sarcastically, "Did she say anything about where Amy said she was going?"

"Home," Reid told her, looking over as both Dave, JJ and Morgan came out of their respective interrogation rooms, "She was headed home."

"According to Ashley," Morgan interjected, "The party broke up after that. Michael yelled at Ashley and stormed out to go home."

"Chelsea said that Zach and Ashley got into another fight, and he left," JJ told the group, "Lily spent the night, and they all got the wake up call from us."

"We're need to question the other three," Hotch said, walking over to the evidence board, "Because if this is either a runaway or a kidnapping the clock is ticking."

Amy's eyes opened when she heard the bedroom door open, "What time is it?"

"A little after ten," the person said, "Are you hungry? I brought you French toast and eggs."

The girl shook her head as she sat up, "You know my parents are looking for me right?"

"I know," the person answered, setting the untouched breakfast on the table, "See what I've got?"

Holding up a newspaper, "There's nothing about a missing FBI agents child in here."

"Not enough time to hit the press," Amy said, zipping up her hoodie, "This isn't going to work."

"It will," the person said, "I know they're looking for you. Probably have everyone on their team looking, but I'm smart, or at least I'd like to think so. Besides no one will ever suspect me."

Walking over to the closed blinds, "It looks like it's going to be a beautiful morning, Amy. Come on out when you want some fresh air, it's not good to be cooped up in a bedroom all day."

Walking out the door, they paused turning around, "It's so good to see you again."

Amy took a deep breath, "Oh boy."

* * *

"If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older." Author Unknown


	11. Come As You Are

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, "Wisdom is only found in truth."

* * *

Pounding on the large door, Emily had to be physically restrained back to keep her from kicking in the door.

"Yes?" an older woman asked, eyeing the three people standing before her.

"Sister Colleen?" Dave interjected, "I'm Agent Rossi, these are Agents Hotchner and Prentiss, FBI."

"Oh, I remember you," the woman smiled down at Emily, "You're the young lady that adopted one of our former students... Amellia Grey?"

"Now Amy Hotchner," Hotch interrupted, "Yes ma'am. We need to speak with Zoe Green please."

"Whatever for?" the older woman asked, allowing the three agents in to her office, "Please take a seat."

Hotch remained standing while both Emily and Dave took a seat in the large chairs.

"Our daughter is missing," Emily told the woman who instantly wore a sympathetic look, "And we just like to question Zoe to see if she knows any place that Amy might like to go..."

"Saints be with the child," the nun whispered making the sign of the cross, "I can ask Zoe if she'll speak with you, but that'll have to be up to her."

The three sat in silence watching as Sister Colleen picked up the phone and quietly spoke into the receiver.

"She'll be right down," Colleen informed them.

Another loud knocking, this one more persistent than the previous only angered the man standing in front of it.

"What?" the man asked, willing his eyelids to open, "Who are you?"

"Agents Morgan and Reid, FBI" Morgan said, eyeing the man with contempt, "We're looking for one of your missing students."

"A missing student?" he asked, "Who?"

"Amy Prentiss Hotchner," Reid stated, watching as the man's face paled at hearing the name, "I believe she's one of your students?"

"Yes, yes she is," the man said, clearing his throat, "Please come in."

"Thank you, Mr. Carter," Morgan said, shooting Reid a look as the two men entered the small, quaint but cozy home.

"Do you have any children here, Mr. Carter?" Reid asked, looking at the plaques on the wall and frowning but followed the man into the living room.

"My son's not here at the moment," Carter said, taking a seat on the couch, "He's visiting his mother in Michigan."

"Mm hmm," Reid hummed writing that down, "And can you tell us where you were last night, Mr. Carter?"

"Jerry, please" Carter stated, "Last night? I was here... wait, can I ask why you're questioning me?"

"We're questioning everyone in Amy's life," Morgan stated, keeping his eyes trained on the man, "Everyone that's been alone with her the past forty-eight hours. You were alone with her, weren't you Mr. Carter?"

"I don't like the tone or the accusation, Agent," Carter said, "I'm her guidance counselor. My job is to protect her future, I'd never do anything to harm it."

"So where were you?" Reid asked again.

"Here last night going over papers to help a few of my students with their post high school education," Carter told the two, "I have the papers if you'd like to look at them. I was helping one boy with his financial aid papers. Look, I would never do anything to hurt my students, I care about my kids."

Reid looked over when Morgan's cell phone rang, "Excuse me."

Morgan walked over to the kitchen, while Reid continued questioning the counselor.

"Can I ask what you two talked about in your sessions?" Reid asked, clicking on the tip of the pen ready to take notes.

"That's actually private," Carter told him, "I'd really like to help but I wouldn't want to break any confidences."

Reid raised an eyebrow at that, "You're not a certified counselor, Mr. Carter, so the actual confidentiality clause doesn't apply. Don't you want to help us find Amy?"

"Of course I do," Carter sighed, rubbing his hand over his face, "Most of my notes are in my office at the school, but what we mostly talked about was how she was transitioning from being an orphan to being bounced around from foster home to foster home to her finally being taken into a permanent home."

"What did she say about that?" Reid asked, his eyes trailing over to his partner who was pacing back and forth with his cell phone attached to his ear, "Mr. Carter?"

"She did confirm that she had thought about her biological parents every once in a while but that she was happy with her current living arrangements with the Hotchners," Carter told the younger man.

"Has she said anything about feeling uncomfortable?" Reid started seeing the confused look on his face, "Like if someone had followed or was watching her?"

"Not really," Carter answered, "Though the past week or so, I've noticed that she's been picking at her cuticle."

Reid's eyebrow shot up, "What?"

"Her thumbnail looked worn down," he explained, "It's a very unhealthy habit. That's why I wanted her to seek a therapist to talk about any emotional problems she might be experiencing."

"Mm hmm, all right. Ok," Morgan's voice emanated from the other room, "We'll be there in a few minutes. Ok, bye."

The two talking men looked up once Morgan returned to the living room, "All right, Mr. Carter if you think of anything else please give us call."

With that, Morgan gave the older man a business card, "Come on, Reid."

Walking outside, Morgan paused in front of their Bureau issued SUV then looked over at the puzzled Reid.

"I have a really bad feeling about that guy," the older man told Reid.

"Then why did you cut the interview short?" Reid asked.

"We have no proof," he told him, "I had Garcia run his background, and there's some inconsistencies. We need to get back to the BAU."

As the two men quickly got back into the SUV, Carter looked out the front window watching as the two drove away.

"Sorry about that, Sister" Zoe said, rushing down the stairs, "I was in the cafeteria. You know how the breakfast shift is..." the petite blonde paused when she saw the two agents stand up to look at her, "Agent Hotchner, Agent Prentiss. How are you?"

"Hello Zoe," Emily greeted the surprised girl, "Sorry to come at such an early hour."

"That's fine," she said, looking around the room her eyes landing on Dave then to Emily, "Is Amy here?"

"No," Hotch started, he noticed Emily starting to pick at her thumbnail, "That's why we're here, about Amy."

The girl scoffed, "She sent you to tell me to stop emailing her, didn't she?" the girl shifted uncomfortably, "Look, I am sorry if it seemed like I'm harassing her or something but I just wanted to know why she's mad at me."

"Zoe," Dave said startling the girl of his appearance, "When's the last time you heard from Amy?"

"Almost three months ago?" she frowned, "Why?"

Hotch and Emily exchanged a look, "Are you sure it was that long ago?"

"Yeah," she said, "Why?"

"There's something you need to know," Hotch started, pausing due to his heavy heart.

"Amy's missing," Dave cut his friend off, watching the blonde's face go from surprised to confused to terrified.

"Missing?" Zoe repeated, tears welling up in her blue eyes, "What do you mean missing? Did she runaway, or did someone..." she started crying, "Did someone take her?"

"We're not sure yet," Emily answered softly, trying to control her own breaking heart, "That's why we're here."

"You think she might have tried to come back here?" Zoe asked, Sister Colleen coming around from her desk and escorting the shaking girl to the dark brown couch.

"We hope so," Emily told the girl sitting on the other side of her, "Do you know of any places she'd like to go to clear her head or to be alone?"

"Well," the girl exhaled, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater, "There's the pond in the park."

"Which park?" Dave asked, watching Hotch pull out his cell phone.

"The one across the street from the library on Main Street," she said, "She likes to go there to feed the ducks."

Emily smiled at the mental image, "Any other places?"

"We use to go to the library to use the internet," she admitted, "Before we won the laptops this past Spring."

"Zoe," the nun scolded the girl, "You know that students internet access is always monitored."

"I know that," she told the older woman sighing, "But we did it anyway."

"Ok, what sites did you go on?" Dave asked, focusing back on the case, "Did she go on any social networking sites?"

"Huh?" the girl asked, shaking her head, "No she never really got into Facebook or anything. I mean she does have those accounts but she rarely goes on them. She was more interested in..."

"In what?" Hotch asked, folding his arms as he peered down at the teenager, who looked like she wished she were anywhere but here.

"I'm the one more interested in the Facebook, Twitter thing," she rambled on, "Amy's more into whole super spy thing, you know with the FBI thing."

"Meaning?" Emily asked, looking over at Hotch, her mind going in several different scenarios but not liking any of them.

"Well first she was trying to track you down," Zoe confessed, "I mean she was looking into tracking down her birth parents, which you know she thought was you, Agent Prentiss. But then when got sidetracked with that Music Box killer and you..."

"Good Heaven," Sister Colleen murmured, "That was a few weeks before the field trip to your FBI building."

"I know," Hotch answered, composing himself, "When she did her investigation into her birth parents, what methods did you two do?"

"She had her birth certificate, and those immunization records," Zoe confessed, "But there was nothing on there about her biological mom. And when she found out that you had a baby at Georgetown University Hospital, she automatically zeroed in on you."

Emily bit her lower lip, she knew all this. But her thoughts were on, did she runaway or was she abducted?

"You're going to find her, right?" Zoe asked.

"Yes, we will." Emily said, straightening up her eyes traveling to Hotch whose cell phone went off.

"Excuse me," Hotch apologized, walking towards the bookshelf behind him leaving the three women in silence.

"Agent Prentiss?" Zoe quietly called out to the brunette, "You know Amy reviewed all your cases when she learned your name."

"Did she?" the mother murmured refocusing her attention on the girl, "What cases did she look at?"

The girl frowned, seemingly looking into her memory before her blue eyes met Emily's "That case where those two foster brothers murdered families... um, I think it was in Colorado."

"Yeah," the agent said, her mind instantly going to the orphaned Carrie. That was the only other girl who had tugged at Emily's heart before meeting Amy.

And that time Hotch didn't agree with her idea of taking in that orphaned girl, but this time with Amy... it was fate. She liked to think so on her end, but did he? And for that matter, did Amy too?

Her eyes traveled back to the quietly talking man. Why was he being so calm while she was trying to not have a complete and utter meltdown?

"We'll be right there," Hotch said before turning around and pocketing his cell phone, "Thank you for your time. We'll be back if we need further information."

"Certainly Agent Hotchner," Sister Colleen said, standing up, "Our thoughts are with your family."

"Thank you," he said, "Come on."

As the three agents walked out the door, Emily looked back to her daughter's friend and wondered how things could have changed in the matter of months.

"Ok, these my prettiest pretty are the last known pings on our Amy's cell phone," Garcia said, "It took some doing to get the cell phone carrier to release them."

"Why the hell did they take so long?" JJ asked, as she and Will looked over the projector in the conference room, "You did tell them you were with the FBI, right?"

"Well of course I did," the blonde said indignantly, "But then they said something about court orders or privacy rights. And then I told them a FBI agent's daughter was missing and they finally conceded."

"And what are we looking at?" Will asked, standing up to look at the screen, "That red ping, that's her, right?"

"Was her," Garcia corrected, watching as all eyes landed on here in frightened, "God, not that" exhaling she stood up walking over to the projector, "You see this circular area here?"

"Yeah?" Will asked, rubbing the tense shoulders of his wife, "Was that were she last was?"

"Half correct," Garcia told him, "Her last missed called was after nine-fifteen in the P.M."

"So her cell phone's turned off?" Morgan asked, "Why didn't you tell us that?"

"Because my mocha," Garcia told him, "It was just turned on for three minutes and I tried tracking a trace and only got a partial but someone interceded it."

The sound of three footsteps made the group turn around to the slacken faces of the concerned parents while Dave manuevered over to look at the latest updates.

"Someone?" Hotch asked, watching as the group looked back remorsefully to the two parents, "Is there any way to find out who?"

"I've got Kevin down in my office checking on that," Garcia told him, "He's got his eye monitoring her emails too."

"We talked with Amy's friend Zoe," she said, taking a seat at the round table while unzipped her coat, "She said, that sometimes Amy likes to go to the park and feed the ducks."

"Aw," Garcia started, then realized they obvious that the girl was not there, "Sorry."

"And she wasn't there," Morgan finished, "Damn it, where the hell did she go?" rubbing his hand over his head, "She didn't just vanish in to thin air."

"What do you got, Garcia?" Hotch asked, moving over to the boards and looking at the compiled information they gathered in their absence.

"So far, we've got bupkis," Garcia answered regretfully, "Last night her cell phone was here on your block," she circled the area on the map, "And at nine-fifteen Amy turned left instead of going straight."

"Down Third and Maple," Hotch murmured, "Did you check to the offenders registry to see if there are any..."

"Yeah," Garcia whispered, swallowing, "There are three registered sex offenders."

Emily looked away from the screen, closing her eyes at that thought. This possibility had been present in her mind, but she had held onto a small shred of hope that she could be wrong. Right?

"Two of the offenders are preferential to boys," Garcia said, disgust evident in her tone, "And the third had been picked up two weeks ago..."

Emily let out a quiet sigh of relief. She didn't want Amy or any other child harmed, but knowing that the only offender that preferred girls was already locked up made her happy at that moment.

"So what else do we got?" Emily asked, "What about her online journals? What did you find there?"

"Going over them, there was a bunch of things about school, a few things about her former families and one thing really caught my eye."

"Which was?" Hotch asked, trying to mask the irritation in his voice.

"In one of her entries, she made reference about her father," Garcia answered looking at Hotch, "About her real father, and wondered what it would have been like if he knew about her and if she had ever existed."

No one spoke after hearing that, but both JJ and Will shot the silent parents sympathetic looks. That had to be every adoptive parents worst nightmare, other than a biological parent coming forward to reclaim their child.

"Anything else?" Emily asked, trying to remain composed. She knew now wasn't the time to lose it, finding Amy was more important. She could ask the girl those questions later on.

"Um yeah, I'm still going through the journals," Garcia said, retraining her attention on the screen in front of her, "I've got to ask, when you two filed the adoption papers, did either of you get a copy of her background?"

"What?" Morgan asked.

"Kevin just sent me this," Flipping the computer screen around, "Amy's file at Family Services has numerous red flags in them."

"What kind of 'red flags'?" Hotch asked, walking over to the blonde and leaning in, "What's that?"

"It looks like someone tried to hack into the D.C.F.S. database," she told him, "And did a very good job at it, because this is very protected main frame."

"Can you try to find out who did it?" Dave asked.

"Let me try," she muttered, clicking away on the computer while the others looked on.

Amy flicked the channel on the remote control, pausing when she saw the news bulletin on the babysitter killer.

"Still no leads in the case," the news anchor replied, "Despite what's been reported the FBI's Behavioural Analysis Unit is still active on the case."

The brunette looked up when the bedroom door opened to the smiling face of the other person.

"Hey, I bet you thought I forgot all about you," the girl watched as a lunch tray was set down on the small desk beside the door.

"Fat chance of that happening," Amy muttered, lowering the volume on the television.

"You shouldn't be watching things like that," the person said taking the remote from Amy, "Look what I brought you, a lap top."

"Great," she dryly answered.

"Oh, you'll never guess who came by for a little visit," their eyes looking upon confused brown ones, "Your parents."

Amy's eyes met that of the person standing in front of her, "They were here?"

"Of course they were," the person chuckled, "What, did you just expect them to forget about you?"

The young brunette rolled her eyes, turning her head away from the smirking face in front of her. The person sighed, "You're not going to make this easy are you?"

"Not really," the sullen teen muttered, keeping her eyes on the black laptop, "What's that for?"

"To go online, duh," walking the laptop over to her, "Here, just stay out of your emails and usual haunts. After all you wouldn't want them finding you, right?"

"No," Amy muttered, opening up the electronic device. "So there's nothing about me online, huh?"

Walking over to the door, the person paused looking back at the girl, "I'm sure they're just sifting through all the leads."

Amy looked up, "Zoe?"

"Yeah?" the blonde asked turning to the girl.

"What do I do now?" she asked her friend.

"I don't know, that's up to you," the girl said, walking out the door, "After all this was your plan, not mine."

Falling against the pillows on her friend's bed, she placed the laptop on her stomach, "But was it a good one?"

* * *

"We are more often treacherous through weakness than through calculation." Francois De La Rochefoucauld


	12. As It Seems

"Truth makes many appeals, not the least of which is its power to shock." Jules Renard

* * *

Emily was looking over the background information that Garcia pulled up on the staff at Parks Academy when something caught her attention. Or rather someone.

"Garcia?" the brunette called out, garnering Hotch's attention, "What's this?"

The blonde rolled the computer chair over to Emily, "That's actually... wait a minute."

Garcia leaned over her friend, typing away on the laptop then frowned, "Huh, that's odd."

"What?" Hotch asked, walking over to the two women, "What is that..."

"Yeah," she murmured, "Who is you I.S.P. provider?"

"Our cable company," Hotch told her, "Why?"

"Because, this is a damn Trojan Horse," she muttered, "Just give me two minutes..."

While Garcia clattered away on the computer, Emily rubbed her hands over face her whole body aching right down to her very soul.

"Oh no," Garcia murmured, "This is not good."

JJ peered over the blonde's shoulder, "How the hell is that even possible?"

"Is that a...?" Morgan asked, clenching his fist while his eyes went to the projector showing an replaying from laptop, "How in the hell did someone hack into her camera?"

"You do not want to know the things that goes on online," she muttered, "Good news is that I can remove it, but..."

"But what?" Reid asked, the statistics of online predators running through his mind, but the better part of common sense told him not to repeat those facts to the group, least of all to the girl in questions parents.

"If I remove the Trojan Horse, that will alert whatever pervert put it on," Garcia told them, "And if that happens..."

"Whoever has Amy will move her," Emily finished, staring out the window not looking back at the group, "Are you sure there's no way to back trace it?"

"Kevin and I can go back to my office and work on it," she sighed, "But I have no idea how long it'll take."

"Do it," Hotch spoke up, "If you find anything, even something insignificant..."

"On my word of honor," she promised closing the laptop and picking it up, "Trust me when I tell you that I won't eat or sleep until we bring our girl home."

With that the room was silent again as everyone went to work digging over every aspect of clues that they had gathered over the course of what felt like weeks to them.

As Reid stood up, he stumbled against the empty spot that the blonde analyst had previously held and fell backwards.

"Spence, are you ok?" JJ asked, as she and Morgan helped the lengthy profiler stand up, "Anything hurt?"

"Just his pride," Morgan teased until the brunette looked at the overturned chair, "Sorry."

"I'm fine," Reid told the group as he picked up the chair, "It's just I got my foot tangled in this sweater..." picking up the green garment with white collar, "Definitely Garcia's..."

As he moved to set the colorful material down a scrap of paper fell out, which Will bent over to retrieve opening it and caught a glimpse of something that made him pause.

"Huh," he said, "I think we've got another clue."

"What?" JJ asked, walking towards her husband, "That's Amy's handwriting."

"Amy's?" Emily asked, looking up, "Is that something from Amy's room?"

"No," JJ answered with a shake of her head. Taking the paper from Will, she walked over to the girl's parents, "This looks like a list of names of people she wanted Garcia to run. I recognize this one."

"Jerry Carter," Emily said, "The guidance counselor, but we already eliminated him from her disappearance. What was his alibi again?"

"He claimed to be preparing financial aid papers for a few students," Reid informed the team, "He said his son was visiting his mother."

"What son?" Hotch asked looking at his wife, "Did you know he had a son?"

"No, but why would we? He's her guidance counselor," the brunette watched Dave pick up his cell phone.

"Garcia come up her now!" the older man barked out, "Did he happen to say where his ex and kid live?"

"Michigan," Morgan answered, "Funny thing is there didn't seem like that he had a kid living with him in his home. I mean there were no video games, no family photos. Nothing."

"Did you find her?" Garcia asked, feeling uncomfortable when all eyes landed on her, "What?"

"Why didn't you tell us that Amy wanted you to look into Carter's background?" Hotch asked, "Or who was the other?"

"Ryan Manning," JJ said, looking down at the paper in her hand before holding it up, "Why didn't you tell us about this?"

"I..." she flabbergasted, "I forgot."

"You forgot?" Morgan repeated, "Baby girl, Amy asked you to look into their backgrounds, why didn't you tell us that?"

"The babysitter case," she whispered, her eyes welling up in tears, "I just... I'm sorry."

"Tell us everything she said," Emily said finding her voice, "When did this happen?"

"The day you were... you know," she stated, pointing to the brunette's shoulder, "You two were away on the case, during the thunderstorm."

"What else did she say?" Dave asked turning to the blonde.

"I think, something about being followed..."

"What?!" both Hotch and Emily asked in unison.

"You should have told us Garcia," JJ told her friend, "This is a big piece of the puzzle."

"I know," the blonde sniffled, looking over to Emily and Hotch, "You guys, I really am sorry. I promise, I promise I will do everything I can to find Amy."

"I know," Emily whispered, "I know."

The brunette agent walked out of the conference room, "Where's she going?"

"Air," JJ said, squeezing Will's hand, "I'll be right back."

"I really am sorry," Garcia repeated, not feeling any better when Morgan gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

JJ walked out of the elevator into the parking garage pausing when she saw her friend sitting on the trunk of her car holding an unlit cigarette.

"I thought you quit," JJ commented, hopping up on the trunk next to her.

"There wasn't any coffee left in the break room and I thought this would be cheaper than going to Starbucks," Emily said, not looking at the blonde who took the cigarette from her hand and tossed it on the cold cement, "You know that only works if it's actually lit."

"Like Garcia I have a flair for the dramatics," JJ said, taking the brunette's hand, "She knows she screwed up."

"Who?" Emily asked, turning partly to look at JJ.

"Garcia," JJ answered, "I know you're pissed at her, and you have every reason in the world to be, but you need to stay focused on Amy."

"I am," Emily told her friend, "Not for one second has that girl ever left my mind since she came into my home," emitting a light sigh, "I just needed to get out of that room to breathe."

"I understand," JJ said, "Have you spoken with Hotch yet?"

Shaking her head, "No, we're both too focused on this," Emily said, "I feel like the biggest failure as a parent."

"Don't say that," JJ's soft voice said soothingly, "I get that, but you've given Jack and Amy more love than any other parent I've ever met. Those children love you."

"Then why is she gone?" Emily snapped, pulling her hand from the blonde to run through her hair, "Why is Jack a mute about school? How did I let whatever was wrong with Amy pass me? What kind of mother am I if I can't recognize that her own children are in pain?"

"A human one," JJ said grabbing Emily's chin, turning her head to look at her, "We've had this conversation Emily. You're only human. Everybody makes mistakes, it's what we do with them - learn from them, that we grow," pulling her into a hug, "You're scared right now, and I am too, but we will find Amy. I swear to you we'll never stop."

Snapping her brown eyes shut, Emily let those words sink in. She finally believed them.

"Ok," Garcia muttered, biting her lower lip while her fingers moved swiftly across the keyboard she heard a ping on the screen, "You guys?"

"What is it?" Hotch asked, walking behind the blonde analyst.

"I did a little hacking into Parks Academy database," Garcia admitted, "And Mr. Guidance Counselor doesn't have any credentials, and that's not all..."

"Wait, what do you mean credentials?" Morgan asked, "Is this guy certified to be at the school?"

"No," Garcia said, her eyes narrowing as she read the screen, "I ran his Social, and apparently the name Jerry Carter was a guidance counselor..."

"Then how do you know..." Morgan asked.

"But not THIS Jerry Carter," Garcia emphasised as she pointed to the screen, "People this man stole the real Jerry Carter's identity."

"How the hell did this get by us?" Will asked, "When you ran a background on him..."

"That, my New Orleans Native, is because the this impostor paid for everything in Jerry's name, right down to the taxes," Garcia explained, "The real Jerry Carter died in 2002 after a lengthy battle with cancer."

"So who is this other Carter?" Reid asked, looking at the woman.

"What we do know is that he's been posing as a guidance counselor," Hotch started walking to the whiteboard, "He's been asking students about Amy..."

"He told us that he has a son and an ex-wife," Reid added.

"Which he does not," Garcia stated, "Even the real Jerry wasn't married."

"So if he doesn't have a family, is faking a career to get close to high school students," Morgan pondered, "He's a predator?"

"Michael did say that Carter had asked some of her friends about Amy," Emily answered from the door, "It's him, isn't it?"

"We don't know that," Dave said, not missing the spark of hope that quickly flashed through Hotch's eyes, "We're only speculating."

"But he didn't make any inappropriate advances on the other girls," Garcia pointed out, "Couldn't this all be some really sick but awful coincidence?"

"The Trojan Horse and the lying speaks for itself." JJ reminded the blonde.

"He could be a preferential predator." Dave offered.

"Preferential offenders are one of the more common sexually based offenders in child predators," Reid stated, "In one of seven cases..."

"Cool it," Morgan hissed, watching the three women turn green at that thought, "What we need to do is bring him in for questioning regarding the faked history."

Hotch nodded at that, "Morgan, Rossi go bring in Carter," he instructed, "Garcia, keep going through the files and find out everything you can on this man," he looked over at JJ and Will, "You two, I need to speak with you both please."

"Certainly," Will said, giving JJ's hand a warm squeeze as the two followed the team leader out.

"What about us?" Reid asked, looking over at Emily, "I guess we'll just get back to work on those journals, huh?"

Emily took a seat at the round table, opening the laptop in front of her. Her eyes never leaving the screen as she tuned out the rest of the world around her.

Her mind was so focused on finding any bread trail that Amy had left in her journals that she nearly fell over when Reid's excited voice echoed through the conference room.

"I think I've got something," he said, looking up while Garcia quickly dialed away on her cell phone to Hotch's office.

"What? What is it?" Emily asked, nearly tripping over her own to feet to look over the younger man's shoulder.

"Ryan told Amy he went to boarding school before enrolling here," Reid paused, "And that his parents are divorced."

"Tragic as that is," Garcia said, "How is that relevant?"

"Because, he moved here and told her he was living with his father," Emily slowly said, "And Carter told Reid and Morgan that his son was visiting his mother..."

"You think Ryan and Carter are connected?" Garcia asked, looking up as Hotch, JJ and Will entered the conference room.

"Sounds like it," Hotch told them, "We're bringing in the kid too. Garcia track the boy down, we need to have a long talk with Ryan Manning."

"On it," Garcia answered, glad that they had some leads that could point them to Amy's whereabouts.

JJ saw the shared look between the dark-haired couple, clearing her throat, "We'll go check to see what's taking Morgan and Dave so..."

The blonde was cut off by Hotch's ringing cell phone, "Hotchner."

"He's in the wind," Morgan said, "Everything's gone, Hotch. He's packed up and taken off."

"Damn it," Hotch muttered, slamming his phone shut, "Carter's skipped town."

Garcia gasped at that, "Well, I'll find out everything on the maybe-kid."

Emily closed her eyes, trying to picture any case that had a positive outlook from a situation like this but when she opened her eyes, Hotch pulled her into a hug.

"We'll find her, Emily," he whispered, not only reassuring her but himself, "We'll find her."

The brunette girl in question was listening to Zoe's iPod while she was busy scanning through her friend's laptop when an instant message popped up on her screen.

"Huh," Amy murmured to herself, "What do you want this time?"

Clicking on the chat button Amy narrowed her eyes at the screen, "Ok."

* * *

"Disenchantment, whether it is a minor disappointment or a major shock, is the signal that things are moving into transition in our lives." William Bridges


	13. God's Gonna Cut You Down

"True stability results when presumed order and presumed disorder are balanced. A truly stable system expects the unexpected, is prepared to be disrupted, waits to be transformed." Tom Robbins

* * *

"Huh," Amy murmured to herself, leaning forward she opened the curtain, seeing her former fellow classmates all busying themselves with outside exercises.

Her heart longed to join them, but she knew she didn't fit in at St. Peter's anymore, nor did she fit at Parks Academy. In truth she felt like she belonged nowhere.

That's why she left the only family that she ever wanted. The first group of people who loved her for her, not because she came with a monthly check.

In hindsight she did know that this was a bad idea, running away. Especially without warning, but then she was never one for doing things the conventional way.

After the big blow out with Ashley, and learning where her so-called friends loyalty truly lies with, that's when she made up her mind. She could see it all in her mind.

 _"Zoe?"_ Amy said, standing in the school hallway, her cell phone pressed against her ear, " _It's me."_

The brunette looked up to see the smirking Zach rushing out of class in search of next one, while the two girls noticed her but hurried to their own rooms.

 _"I'll call you as soon as I get out of school,"_ Amy sighed, _"Ok, me too. Bye."_

A few hours after the mysterious call, Amy was taking out the trash when she noticed a car parked on the corner quickly drive away.

Her interest peaked, the girl wrote down the partial license plate she got and shoved the paper in her pocket when she received a text message.

 _'I'm in,'_ she read, _'When do you want to do it?'_

 _'Soon,'_ the teen wrote back, ' _We can talk then.'_

Noticing the nosy blonde analyst who was temporary watching the Hotchner children, she quickly pocketed her phone and hurried back inside.

A few days later, after getting permission to go over to Ashley's, Amy knew whether she really wanted to admit it or not, that there was no way out of this.

While everyone had been busy with the personal belongings that Zach had found that belonged to Ashley's mother, Amy had wandered outside to make a phone call.

"It's me," Amy told her, "Are you ready?"

"Uh huh," the girl answered, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," the brunette replied, "Here's what I need you to do..."

After all hell broke loose at Ashley's, Amy had opted out of a ride. It wasn't because Michael's best friend Zach was Ashley's boyfriend, it wasn't even pride that made her refuse that offer as well.

What did it, was that she had now realized she threw away a real friendship for a group of fake friends. She sold out the one person who knew her, even better than Emily did.

As Amy stood still on the sidewalk, pondering her future a car pulled up, stopping as it stared at her.

If she turned left, she'd be home in ten minutes; but if she turned to the right could go anywhere in the world.

 _"Hey,"_ a voice called out, making the brunette turn to look at the driver.

 _"Hey yourself,"_ Amy said, walking over to the car and getting into the passenger side car.

Amy's eyes opened when she heard the bedroom door open, "Talk about giving a girl a heart attack," the brunette sat up, "What time is it?"

"A little after eleven," Zoe said taking a seat on the chair next to the bed, "We need talk."

"I know," the girl sighed, setting the laptop down on the desk.

Even after her earlier dismissal of the girl sitting across from her, Zoe still went above and beyond to help her. It was something that she had always admired about her friend, a title that she still hoped she could call her. Besides she knew it was only fair that they have the talk, no matter how much she wanted to avoid but couldn't.

"I know you're mad at me," Amy started, pursing her lips as she searched her memory, "I know what I did was wrong. Ignoring your texts messages, emails and everything... and all I can really say is I'm sorry."

"Ames," Zoe interrupted, "I'm not going to lie and say that it didn't hurt because it did. It wasn't just that you had moved on to a new group of friends, because I understand that, but it's like you didn't even want to know me anymore."

"I'm sorry," the girl apologized again.

"I mean I do understand that you wanted to start over," Zoe paused, "After all you got a whole new life, parents, a brother and new friends..."

"They weren't real friends," Amy told her, sighing, "I just wanted to know what it was like" she saw Zoe frown at that, "Being popular. I mean doesn't everyone want that?"

"I don't," Zoe confessed, looking down at the ground tears forming in her blue eyes, "I'd rather have three real friends, then a dozen fake ones" looking back at Amy, "Look at me, crying like an idiot."

Amy wiped her own tears, "If you don't want to be friends anymore and want to turn your back on me, I can accept that. It's something that I deserve."

"Well, we can't go back and change the past," Zoe said, "Even if we wanted to, what happened, happened. Nothing can change that. The past is the past, but you're too important to just write off, Amy."

The brunette started nervously tapping her foot on the carpeted floor, "Meaning?"

Zoe reached over, watching as Amy started to bite her thumbnail, "Meaning that just because you hanged around with sucky people doesn't mean you're one of them. Amy, I forgive you."

"You do?" she asked surprised.

"Yes," the blonde girl said, "Don't you get it? We've always been friends first" her hand taking ahold of Amy's, "Who had my back when Sister Katherine wanted to throw me out of the science fair for questioning the theory of evolution?"

"Me," she said, "But there's a big difference between that and turning your back on a friend, Z."

"I know you haven't exactly had it easy, Amy" Zoe paused, "I remember what it was like for you when you first came to this school, but you just need to remember that there are people out there who love you."

"Yeah, right" the girl murmured, rubbing her hand over her face, "Is that why you agreed to help me find my biological father?"

"Part of it," she shrugged, "And partly to remind you that I've always had your back, and I'd still like to think if I had been adopted, you would still have done the same for me."

Amy nodded, standing up she walked over to the window, "Where are your parents this time?"

"Napa Valley," Zoe said, "Good thing you decided to run while they were out of town."

"So no one else knows?" Amy asked going back to the bed and sitting down, "Do you mind if I go over there to do some more investigating?"

"Sure," the girl shrugged, pulling out a copy of her house key, "I'll tell Sister Colleen that I'm going home for the weekend, she won't care."

"Let me go pack up and I'll be right back," she said, walking over to the small walk-in closet, while Zoe heard the chime on the laptop alerting her of incoming message.

The girl swiveled the desk chair around and opened up the instant messenger. What she read had her dumbfounded.

 _'When did she find him?_ ' she wondered, _'Wait, what if this isn't him? OMG, what if this is some Creepy McKiller... that babysitter killer.'_

"I really need to stop watching the crime screen channels before I go to bed," the blonde muttered, quickly responding to the I.M. then slammed the lid down when she heard Amy grunt as she came out of the closet.

"You say something, Zee?" she asked, opening the small bag, "Wow, when's the last time you cleaned out this thing?"

"What?" Zoe replied, watching her friend pull out empty potato chip bags and candy wrappers, "Oh, well, yeah."

"Ew, do they even still make this brand of candy?" tossing the wrappers in the trash can, "I'm going to go wash my hands and then we can go, ok?"

"Uh, actually there's something I have to do first," the girl slowly replied, "I'll catch up with you at my house, ok?"

"What's so important that you can't sneak me off campus?" Amy asked her friend suspiciously, "You're not going to call Hotch and Emily are you? Because you promised that you were going to..."

"No, no, no" the blonde shook her head, "I gave my word that I wouldn't call your parents. And I am a man of my word, well woman," the girl shook her head, "You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I do," Amy nodded, "Ok then, I guess I'll try to sneak out. Do you think you can cause a distraction?"

"Please, have you met me?" Zoe answered with a smile, "When have I not caused a scene?"

Amy grabbed her bag, taking the closed laptop with her then followed Zoe to the door. The blonde paused, slowly opening the door a crack peering out.

"It's all clear," Zoe informed her, stopping she reached over to her desk chair, "Here wear this jacket."

"But that's your favorite," Amy told her surprised, staring at the black leather jacket that she had always envied her friend for, "I can't..."

"Please," Zoe rolled her eyes, "You need to wear something so that no one will see you, and it obviously has to be something of mine. Put it on."

"Fine," Amy sighed, "The things I make you do."

"I know, I know," the girl quickly replied, "I'm a saint."

As the girl walked down the hallway, Sister Colleen paused, "Zoe?"

The black jacket turned around, "Yeah, I already cleared it with Sister Katherine. I'll be back on Monday."

The nun smiled at the blonde, "Be careful walking across traffic this time of day."

"Will do."

Opening the main door, Zoe tossed the bag over the railing peering down at the similar black leather jacket girl, "I'll see you soon."

"You remember what to do, right?" Amy reminded her friend.

"Yep," she said looking back, "Go."

The young blonde watched her friend quickly race across the school grounds before disappearing from site. Turning around, she hurried back into the housing wing and grabbed her messenger bag and her hat before once again leaving the school.

As Zoe walked through the park moving onto the bike path, she kept her eyes peeled for any sign of the person she had suspected might be Amy's biological father.

She hoped he wasn't, because if he was then she could lose her friend to this man. She had no intention of losing the best friend she just got back, not if she could help it.

Pausing as she stood by the small pond, staring at the tiny ducklings following their mother, Zoe smiled.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out Amy's black iPhone. Remembering her promise of disposing it to keep from Amy's parents and the FBI from looking for her. The blonde snickered at the thought that if she turned on the electronic device that they'd know where Amy was. Well they would, and that she could end this disastrously bad idea that she only supported for her friend. So she'd never do that.

Pulling out her own cell phone, she opened up her email app and looked at the instant message that Amy had failed to see, which she sent and saved.

_'If you want to find out the truth about your father, meet me at Main Street Park.'_

"Not gonna happen," the girl murmured, closing the email she pocketed her own phone, then looked up when she heard the crunching of leaves behind her.

"Amy?" the male voice called out, watching as the girl turned around.

"Oh, hey" Zoe said, her hand clutching the black iPhone, "Give a girl a heart attack."

"Where's Amy?"

"Who's wants to know?" she asked skeptically eyeing the person before her. Her thumb turning the cell phone on while her heart started pounding.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God," Kevin gasped, quickly rushing through the bullpen nearly taking Anderson out with him as he rushed up the steps on the catwalk.

"Ugh," Garcia groaned in frustration, "I still can't find any link connecting the fake Carter to Ryan Manning. Zero. Nada. Zilch."

"Nothing?" Emily repeated, her stomach souring as she started reading the sex offenders registry.

"No," Garcia muttered looking over at Emily's screen, "God, I don't even want to know how many there aren't on this list that belong."

"I've got it!" Kevin announced, panting for breath, "Woo, that was a long run."

"Got what?" Hotch asked, turning his attention to the younger man.

"Amy's cell phone was just turned back on," Kevin informed the group, catching his breath, "Main Street Park, and there was another ping just under five minutes ago."

Hotch, Emily and Reid rushed out, leaving the two technical analysts to look at each other.

"This was a good thing, right?" Kevin asked Garcia.

The blonde crossed her fingers turning her eyes towards the Heaven, "Oh, I hope so."

Speeding through the main entrance Hotch slammed on the Bureau issued SUV's breaks not bothering to come to a full stop when Emily quickly jumped out of the passenger side.

"Everyone split up," Hotch barked out, pointing to different directions of the park, "Rossi come with me."

Emily and Morgan hurried towards the bathrooms while JJ, Will and Reid headed towards the benches.

"See anything?" Hotch asked Dave as the two hurriedly walked towards the main bridge.

"Nothing," the older man quietly cursed the lack of progress they had made.

"Over here," Will called out, the others looking up, "I... I see something."

JJ's hand instantly covered her mouth as tears welled up in her blue eyes.

"What? What is it?" Emily cried out, running over nearly falling over at the site, "Is that... is that her?"

Hotch's step faltered right behind Emily's while Dave and Morgan moved closer to Will who was kneeling underneath the pond's main opening beneath the small bridge.

Dave leaned over, his hand moving the small hat off the head and exhaling for a brief instant before recognizing the girl. He looked back to the two silent parents, shaking his head.

"It's Zoe Green," Dave told the group, "Amy's friend."

The brunette fell to her knees a sob racking through her as she mourned the young girl and wondered just where her own daughter was.

Each were startled when the sound of a ringing cell phone could be heard from the girl's hand.

"I'm calling this in," Will murmured walking away from the small group.

The continuous ringing made the angry Morgan reach over for it, despite the protesting from Reid and Dave about fingerprints and protocol.

"It's her mother," Morgan said looking at the caller id then to from Hotch to Emily, "We need to tell her."

Emily nodded, reaching out for the phone then standing up as she stared at the phone before answering it.

"Zoe, where are you?" Amy's voice rang out on the speaker phone.

"Amy?" Emily sniffled, her mind beyond stunned, "Amy where are you?"

"Emily?" the girl replied before slightly cursing then hanging up.

"What the hell is going on?" Emily cursed allowing herself to be held up by Hotch.

* * *

"I've learned to never regret, every turn of events, unexpected twist, makes us the person we are today." Author Unknown


	14. The Sound Of Silence

"Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live." Norman Cousins

* * *

"I should have known she'd sell me out," Amy muttered, dropping the telephone on to the table, "Of course she would, she never really forgave me."

Pacing back and forth, she looked at the clock, noting that it was late afternoon, and that she needed to hightail it out of Greens' home. Any moment the calvary would be riding in to drag her back to a place where people didn't really want her.

"Damn it," she muttered, as she reached over grabbing her bag, and heading for the door.

Pausing as she opened the front door, she could already see the flashing red lights approaching the block. She turned around locking the front door and headed for the back way, knowing that it would be a longer way to get to the bus depot but it was better than being in plain sight.

Climbing the brick wall, Amy jumped over and rushed through neighboring backyards until the air had left her very lungs.

As she paused to catch her breath, she felt a chill run up her spine at the obvious signs of the BAU's presence. But why were they there? Looking for her?

She rummaged through the messenger bag looking for the black wool cap, she held on to it while putting her hair in a messy bun before placing the cap on her head.

Wrapping the knitted scarf around her neck, she shoved a pair of dark sunglasses on her face. Sighing she looked at her reflection in a car mirror and nearly rolled her eyes.

"Definitely not one of my better disguises," she muttered, double checking her appearance before keeping her eyes trained on the ground and converging with a small cluster of onlookers.

As she merged with the crowd, she positioned herself next to a large tree out of sight of the police and reporters already making the late afternoon reports.

"Such a shame," an older woman murmured to a person beside her, "So young too."

"Do they have any idea who would do such an awful thing?" the man asked, shaking his head.

"No clue," a third person replied, "Lord, I feel so bad for that poor girl, her poor parents."

Amy peered over to what everyone was so enthralled at, when she spotted it. She recognized that brownish-black messenger bag with the cat key chain.

Covering her mouth with her hand, she held in the sob that desperately wanted to escape. Blinking away the tears, she turned to the couple next to her.

"Excuse me?" she asked, willing her strength to hold strong, "What happened here?"

"Oh, it's the most terrible thing, dear" the older woman dabbed the corner of her eyes, "A girl was found murdered," shaking her head, "Real young too, about your age I believe. Terrible."

Silently nodding she excused herself from the group, folding her arms across her chest as she walked away from the loud group. She could hear the sounds of voices mixing together but her mind was cluttered with images of her best friend no longer alive.

"Are you all right?" she heard someone asked, but she just walked past them trying to turn off the pain she imagined she could hear her friend in.

Walking towards the picnic table, she covered her ears, shutting her eyes tightly as Zoe's pained cried came into her psyche.

"Are you sure they're not home?" JJ asked, turning her back on the clamoring crowd flashing away. Her eyes scanning the back part of the park, "What?"

Emily quietly bit on her thumbnail while her booted heel mindlessly tapping on the ground. Her head popped up when she noticed JJ pacing in front of her, quietly speaking with either Will, Dave or Morgan.

"Ok, I'll ask her," JJ said, turning her gaze on to the brunette, "Emily, does Amy own a pink digital camera with the initials APH inscribed on the bottom?"

"Yeah," she muttered biting her lip, "She was at Zoe's, right?"

"She was," JJ confirmed, "But she must have taken off when the guys showed up. Hotch is on his way back with Morgan. Rossi, Reid and Will are going back to St. Peter's to try to get in contact with Zoe's parents."

The brunette nodded, understanding that finding the girl's parents took top priority. But where did that leave Amy and her disappearance? She was obviously a material witness, and the cases linked together since it was obvious the girl had Amy's cell phone with the message from Carter.

"God when is this going to end?" she muttered, looking up when the blonde stood in front of her, "What?"

"Strauss is taking us off the case and kicking it to the D.C. police," JJ sighed, taking a seat beside her friend, "Not just Zoe's murder, but Amy's disappearance as well."

The tired mother rubbed her hands over her face, "I don't trust them."

"Will promised to keep us apprised of it," she assured her friend, "He's going back to the station. He said that he and some of the D.C. police will keep an eye out for Carter and Ryan Manning..."

Neither women noticed a person slowly and carefully approaching the crime scene. Despite the police and FBI presence the new arrival needed to see that body.

"No," she whispered, her dark ski cap covering her hair. Letting out a sniffle, the girl's soft cries where drowned out by the numerous voices passing by.

"I'm sorry, miss but you'll need to go back behind the police tape," a younger officer told Amy, not recognizing the girl.

"What's going to happen to her?" she asked, her eyes traveling over to the backs of Emily and JJ, both who were preoccupied in their own conversation.

"I'm not at liberty to say, ma'am," the officer told the girl leaving the girl to return to his duty.

She silently watched as the corner wheeled the gurney over to the small pond, that sight made Amy cover her mouth holding in the cries that she knew if she allowed out, they would never stop.

Amy kept her focused attention on the Zoe and the coroners that she didn't notice Hotch or Morgan's return as the two men maneuvered their way to the two women.

"You don't think anything bad happened to her, do you?" Emily asked panic setting in as she watched the coroner with the friend of her daughter's.

"I don't know," JJ admitted. The blonde wanted to remain positive for Emily's sake but she didn't want to lie either, "If we only knew why this happened, or why she's trying to track down James Cartwright..."

"Whether she did or didn't do with trying to contact her biological father it doesn't matter," Emily said, wiping a lone tear falling down, "I just need to know if she's ok."

JJ reached out, giving her friend the strength that she didn't have, "A mother knows if her child is in pain," the blonde told her, "They know that in an instant. If you don't feel it, it's because she's not in physical pain, Em."

The brunette kept her eyes on the men trying to carefully lift the lifeless remains of a girl snuffed from life. Noticing movement from her peripheral vision, she didn't bother to look up when Hotch and Morgan approached the two female agents.

"She was already gone," Morgan regretfully informed the women, "We found her digital camera and a green scarf."

"Amy doesn't have a green scarf," Emily frowned at that, "It could be Zoe's or her mother's."

Morgan shared a look with Hotch, "Princess, that scarf couldn't have been there for more than an hour, and the nuns said that Zoe's been on campus all week."

"What about her parents?" JJ asked, her heart aching for the parents, "Where are they?"

"Napa," Hotch sighed, "Will's calling them."

"Damn, I'd hate making those calls," JJ murmured, a new wave of sympathy hit her. Not just for Zoe's parents, but for the ones next to her.

"I'll do it," Emily softly said, "They need to hear it from one of us."

"Agreed," Hotch answered. His attention half on Emily, but his eyes quickly diverting contact to a young patrolman talking to a covered up teenager.

A girl, judging by the petite frame and shape.

"I'm sorry miss," the young man said, placing his hands on the girl's shoulders while the unseen female who struggled against him.

Her words weren't coherent enough to be heard, but from the way she was acting it was obvious that she knew the girl lying dead in the park.

"I need to see her!" the small voice squeaked out, "This isn't real, please tell me it's not real. It's not her, tell me it's not her."

Emily's head popped up at the pained voice, "Amy?"

The three other's looked over at Emily, "What?" JJ asked.

"I want to see her!" she cried, the pain in her broken voice wrenched everyone, "Let me see my friend."

Amy roughly shoved the young officer away, running over to where the coroner and his assistant where placing the lifelessly still body of Zoe in the black body bag.

"No," she cried out falling beside the lowered gurney not noticing that she had become the center of attention, "Zoe? Zoe, Zoe wake up," she sobbed, "Please wake up. Open your eyes, open your eyes for me."

Lifting her eyes at the two men, "Why aren't you helping her? She needs to go to the hospital," narrowing her eyes, she looked over at her parents, "How could you let this happen to her?"

Amy turned her gaze back on her unmoving friend, "Zoe, take a breath please..."

Morgan and Hotch moved silently over to the emotionally distraught girl, "Amy, sweetie you need to let her go."

"No!" she screamed, leaning over to embrace her longtime friend tears falling down her face, "No, no, no. Zoe, come back. Please come back."

Emily quietly walked over to her daughter, "Amy, I'm sorry baby, I'm so sorry."

She wrapped her arms around the uncontrollable girl who struggled to free herself from the warm touch just to be pulled backwards into a hug.

"We need to move the body," the sympathetic elderly coroner murmured to Morgan who consented with a nod.

"Amy, come on," Hotch softly whispered, "We need to move away."

"No," she sniffled, her head shaking against Emily's chest, "I can't leave her, not again."

"We need to let them take care of her," Emily murmured, running her fingers through the dark hair. Her eyes meeting her husband's, both could tell that their daughter was going into shock, "Come on, let's go home."

"I have no home," she whispered, a far away look in her eyes glazed over as she watched as two men in dark zip up outfits kneel next to Zoe's body, "Not anymore."

Morgan leaned down, "Amy, why don't we all go some place warm to talk?"

Amy could feel her parents helping her up but her sole focus was on Zoe who was being zipped up in the body bag, "She doesn't like the dark."

The two concerned parents shared a pained look while they helped escort their daughter over to the Bureau issued SUV.

"Amy," Emily's soft voice called out, wrapping her arm around the inconsolable girl, "They'll take very good care of Zoe."

No one was prepared for the gut wrenching scream that she emitted but Morgan raced over when the girl collapsed into a heap on the grass and carried her over with her worried parents in tow. Hotch swiftly opened the back of the SUV while Emily slid in with Morgan carefully placing the crying girl in next to her mother then Hotch got in beside her.

"Take them home," JJ murmured to Morgan as he got behind the wheel.

"No," Emily said defiantly, "We need to get her to the hospital."

JJ frowned, about to ask why when she looked down at Amy who know had a dazed look on her face and reiterated the statement to Morgan.

Emily wrapped her arm protectively around Amy, her eyes meeting Hotch's when his hand carefully moved a strand of hair off their daughter's face. Both were beyond worried for Amy, and for their unsub who caused all of this to happened.

* * *

"What is family? They were the people who claimed you. In good, in bad, in parts or in whole, they were the ones who showed up, who stayed in there regardless." Sarah Dessen


	15. Landslide

"Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it." J.K. Rowling

* * *

Amy nuzzled her face into the pillow, a fitful sigh quietly escaping her throat. A slight twitch of her shoulders made the concerned brunette lean over in her seat and tenderly stroke the girl's head.

Emily's eyes trained up when she saw Hotch walk in with an older doctor.

"How is she?" Emily asked, her eyes moving from her husband to the doctor.

"We've given Amy a mild sedative," the doctor informed the woman, her eyes traveling down to the name tag, Brown, "That will help her sleep through the night. However, I'm more concerned with her mental well-being, she was close with the girl?"

"Zoe," Emily corrected, "Yes, they were best friends."

"Ah," Dr. Brown paused, "I would like for Amy to speak with our on-call psychiatrist when she wakes up. Her meltdown seemed to be a combining factors of discovering her friend and a bit of anxiety. Tell me, has she been under stressed lately?"

The two agent's looked at each other, "A little, yes." Hotch answered.

"Regarding?" Dr. Brown asked, making a note in the medical chart, he looked from Hotch to Emily, "It's important for us to pinpoint what major factor for her breakdown."

"Well there was an incident, of sorts involving her friend Ashley," Hotch started, "Concerning a boy."

"Honestly ever since the school year started she seemed to distance herself from us," Emily admitted, "Withdrawing from everyone actually."

"Has that been normal since she's moved in with you?" the doctor asked, "You've had her in your home since... mid May?"

"Yes," Emily sighed, looking down at Amy who was fidgeting, "I know that she needs to speak with someone, it's just... it's just I feel like I've failed her."

"Let's go talk outside," the doctor lowered his voice, "There are some questions I need to ask."

The two parents quietly followed the older man out of the small cubicle, knowing that as long as they could see their sleeping daughter it was the next best thing to being in her room.

"How long do you plan to keep Amy here?" Hotch asked, he didn't want to rush anything but the sooner that Amy was home, safe under their own roof, the sooner he could relax.

"I don't want to rush anything," Dr. Brown told him, "Not until your daughter wakes up and we can get to the root of her problems," he looked down at his beeping pager, "I'm going to contact one of our staff psychiatrist. He can talk to you about the next steps, alright?"

"Of course," Emily said, shaking the doctor's hand.

As the two quietly talked in the hallway, an unseen person walked passed by listening as Hotch and Emily talked about what was next for Amy.

His eyes trained briefly on the opened door before turning the hallway towards the men's room.

"Did Dave find anything new about Carter?" Emily asked, leaning against the brownish-white wall.

"He and Reid went back to the BAU to work a geographical profile on 'Carter'," Hotch told her, "Morgan and JJ went down to the school to talk to Principal McCall and a few of the teachers," sighing he pinched the bridge of his nose, "A Ms. Forrester apparently came forward indicating she had a brief romance with Carter."

"What?" the brunette asked, stunned by the news, "Well did she say anything about Amy?"

"No," he shook his head. He pursed his lips ready to say something when a stocky blonde, in her forties approached them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hotchner?" she asked, looking down at her clipboard, "I'm Kim, Dr. Truman's assistant."

"Nice to meet you," the stoic man greeted, "Where's the doctor?"

"An emergency consult with another patient, he will be down in a few minutes," the woman informed the pair before pointing down the hallway, "Lets go into his office, over here."

"I don't know..." Emily paused, looking back at the hospital room, "I don't want to leave Amy."

"Tell you what," Kim pleasantly replied, "How about I send in a nurse to keep an eye on your daughter while we talk? Would you both be comfortable with that?"

Emily lightly exhaled her breath, "Thank you, we'd like that. Right, Aaron?"

"If you wouldn't mind," he answered.

"I'll be right back," she said, turning on her heel walking down the linoleum floor towards the nurses' station.

Hotch held his breath when he felt Emily take his hand in her own, giving it a tight squeeze, "Are you ok?"

"I am," a tentative but genuine smile graced her porcelain features, "Or at least I will be now."

"Mr. and Mrs. Hotchner?" Kim called, "A nurse will be in shortly with Amy in just a moment. Ready?"

"Thank you," Hotch answered as he and Emily followed the woman down the corridor to the doctor's office.

A pair of dirty sneakers squeaked across the floor before pausing in front of room 342. Placing their hospital scrub wearing hand on the door knob they open the door and enter the dark and quieted room.

Pausing as he stood in the doorway, he leaned back to look out at the narrow hallway staring as a massive crowd began to proceed, several patients being placed in different rooms. No longer interested, he walked into the room and stood at the foot of the light brown hospital bed and stared at the fidgeting girl who looked restless in her fitful sleep.

"Oh Amy," he whispered, watching as the girl moved fitfully around on her hospital, "What am I going to do with you?"

Moving over to the head of the bed, he picked up a discarded pillow that Emily had left on the chair beside the bed slowly walked towards the sleeping brunette.

"I'm sorry Agent, but Mr. and Mrs. Hotchner are in with the doctor at the moment," a nurse's voice echoed by the door, "If you'd like to wait in the room with Amy, I'm sure her parents won't mind..."

"Thank you, I'd like that," Dave said, pushing open the door he paused, "What the hell?"

"Sir?" the nurse asked, "Is something the matter?"

The older man turned back to the confused woman, "Why the hell isn't anyone watching her? I happened to know that both Agents Hotchner and Prentiss had wanted someone to stand by here to keep their daughter safe."

"I'm not sure, sir," the younger woman apologized, "Let me go ask the front desk."

Dave watched from the doorway as the young nurse headed to the nurses' station, he quickly closed the door vacating the room at the sound of his cell phone going off.

"Excuse me," a young male orderly said, "Sir, no cell phones."

"Sorry, FBI" Dave apologized flashing his credentials before turning around and walking down the hallway where he could keep an eye on the door but far away to answer his phone without waking Amy.

"Rossi," he clipped out, "What do you have Garcia?"

The man paled at what the analyst told him, "Are you positive?" he paced back and forth, missing the man who quickly slipped out of girl's room.

"I'll go get them," he sighed, "Keep checking, we need to know. Garcia, tell Morgan to protect the scene. Do not, I repeat do not let this get out."

The usually controlled man banged his fist into the hard wall, as he moved back to Amy's room. He made himself a solemn vow, no one would take this girl away from her parents.

"Agent Rossi," the nurse said, "This Luke, he's a security guard here at the hospital. I told him a bit about the situation, if it's all right with you he asked to be posted at Miss Hotchner's room."

"You volunteered?" Dave asked skeptically, taking in the younger man's stance. He seemed physically fit for his career choice, but this was his goddaughter and he wasn't going to let just anyone watch her without getting a thorough background, "Let's talk."

The young nurse watched as the two men walked towards the hospital room both silently talking she noticed something off that made her pause. Tilting her head to the side she wandered over to the semi-opened door then halted. Turning around at the sound of footsteps.

"What do you think you're doing?" a voice called out, making the young woman jump in surprise.

"I... I'm... I'm Sam," she greeted the woman, "I'm here to watch over this patient."

"Uh huh," the oerson skeptically raised an eyebrow, "And where are Amy's parents?"

"In with the doctor," Sam answered narrowing her gaze on the person before her, "Who are you?"

"Jessica Brooks," the woman replied, "Amy's father is my brother-in-law."

"Oh," the nurse said relieved, "Would you like to see your niece?"

"I'm not her aunt," Jessica quickly answered, watching the nurse's face contort in confusion, "Her brother, my nephew Jack, wanted to sit with his sister. Is she all right?"

"I'm not at liberty to say, ma'am," Sam told her, watching as a little sandy-haired boy stood on his tiptoes at the window, "I can go retrieve Amy's parents and alert them of your presence so her brother can go sit with her."

"Well is she awake at least?" Jessica asked, she wasn't cold or callous to the girl's plight. She did care about Hotch's daughter but she wasn't family to her, that didn't mean she despised the girl or wished to see her injured. Her only concern was for Jack's welfare above all else.

"No," Sam answered, "But if you can assure that... Jack, is it? If he doesn't wake up Miss Hotchner then you two may go into the room while I retrieve Mr. and Mrs. Hotchner."

"Thank you," Jessica watched as the younger woman turned down the hall towards the back offices, "Jack? Come over here, sweetie."

The little boy clutching the stuffed dinosaur hurried over to his aunt, "Can we see Amy now?"

"In a minute baby," she kneeled down in front of her nephew, placing her hands on his shoulder, "Jack buddy, you have to promise me that you'll be very quiet when we go in there, ok?"

"Why?" he asked, his eyes trailing over Jessica's shoulder by the corner of the hallway causing him to frown when he noticed an outlined shape of a person standing in the shadows.

"Because Amy's very, very tired," Jessica told him, delicately finding the proper words not to frighten the boy, "Amy needs her sleep, ok?"

"Ok," he whispered, his eyes going back to the shadow that had disappeared.

Jessica took Jack's hand and the two walked into the quiet hospital room. Jack tugged himself free from older woman, racing over to the bed and placing his sister's plush toy beside her pillow.

"Sorry you're not feeling good," he whispered to her, "I brought Dean to help you get better."

Jessica had to admit that it was quite the sight, silently blinking away tears as her nephew kissed the girl's cheek then sit down on the chair beside the bed. He reminded her so much of Haley when they were younger that she had forgotten that the two siblings weren't brother and sister.

Jack took ahold of Amy's shaking hand, while Jessica sat down on the small couch along the hospital window watching nurses and doctors pass by. So engrossed in the tender moment of a young boy keeping vigil at his sister's side the older blonde missed a looming presence staring at the three.

When Jessica looked up again she quickly stood up when Dave entered the room, "Agent Rossi? Where are Aaron and Emily?"

The profiler nodded for the aunt to follow him out, leaving the two Hotchner children alone. Jessica played with her thumbnail, her head looking back at the semi closed hospital door.

"What the hell happened?" Jessica demanded turning back to Dave, "What happened to her?"

"We don't know," he shook his head, "We think she ran away," he saw the woman's jaw drop open, "But she just had a complete meltdown when she saw her friend's dead body."

"Oh my God," the blonde's hand covered her mouth, "How?"

"I can't get into it," he told her, "But it's not good."

"Why would Amy run away?" Jessica asked, "I thought she was getting along with Aaron and Emily?"

"We thought that too," Dave sighed, "But something obviously happened to change all that."

While the two were talking a person walked passed them with his head bent down eyes towards the ground, opening the hospital room.

"Hi," the person said, alerting the little boy to the opened door.

"Hi," Jack answered, watching the older figure slowly close the door.

"So she's safe now?" Jessica asked, while she and Dave walked the hall together, "And Jack's safe in there with her?"

"I shouldn't see why not..." Dave started, "You know Hotch and Emily would never let anything bad happen to Jack or Amy."

The blonde shot him a sharp look, but nodded in agreement, "I know but Jack's all that I have left of my sister and I will not let _anyone_ hurt him."

As the two reached the door, they heard a sharp cry from the room.

"Go get Hotch and Emily!" he barked out to the woman, as he stormed into the room with his gun drawn shocked, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I've got something to say..." the person answered, earning a scowl from the older man.

* * *

"Sometimes, when one person is missing, the whole world seems depopulated." Lamartine


	16. Big Girls Don't Cry

"To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there." Barbara Bush

* * *

Emily and Hotch came racing down the hall with Jessica in tow, Hotch grasping on Emily's arm in front of the closed door.

"What?" she demanded, looking back at him wondering why he stopped her.

"Let me go first," he whispered, his mind absorbing too much so soon but he wouldn't allow anyone else to get hurt on his watch. It was bad enough that their daughter and her friend paid the price for their line of work.

"Fine," she muttered, backing away from the door so that Hotch could move in first.

He shared a look with her, while Jessica stood from the sidelines, ordered by the BAU agents to call in their team.

"One, two..." he mouthed before kicking in the hospital door only to be dumbfounded by the site before him.

"What in Heaven's name?" they brunette parents heard from the onlooker while Dave rolled his eyes.

"Chief Strauss," Hotch said, lowering his service weapon, "What are you doing here?"

"Ma'am?" Emily said, peering over Hotch's shoulder before Hotch allowed the two parents and Jessica into the small room.

"Well believe it or not, Agents," Strauss said, "I came to check on your daughter," turning her head to look at the still sleeping girl, "And to ask why no one had bothered to inform me that my agents were investigating," the woman looked from the two children to their parents, "Something drastic."

"How about we take this outside, hmm?" Dave offered, "Jessica, can you keep an eye on the children?"

"Certainly," the blonde replied, taking an empty seat against the wall.

"Aaron, Emily," Strauss said, "Let's go grab a cup of coffee. I have some interesting news for you."

"Great," Emily muttered, leading the way out of the hospital room with Dave following close behind.

Jack kicked his legs aimlessly off the ground, looking from the semi-opened door to Jessica then back to his older sister.

"Aunt Jessie?" he said, turning back to the older woman, "How long will Sissy be asleep?"

"Uh," she paused looking at Amy, "Well Jack, the thing is that Amy needs the sleep."

"I know that," he said, "Miss JJ told me that, but how long will she be asleep?"

Jessica got out of the chair, wandering over to the foot of the bed. Her blue eyes scanning over the young girl's frame and a wave of guilt rushed through her. This teenager had been through the worst of the worst, but the older woman's concerned hadn't been on her, it had been focused on her nephew.

Kneeling in front of Jack, she ran her larger hand through the boy's sandy blonde locks. What startled her was the fact that his hair was now darkening, not as dark as Hotch's but their was slowly a loss of resemblance of Haley's own hair color. Changes, their were changes all around her.

Her gaze falling upon the girl, then back to her nephew who had an inquisitive look on his face.

"Until she's ready," she finally answered, coming up with an idea, "Say Jack? How would you like to help me with a little something?"

"What?" he asked, watching his aunt's smile widen.

"Come with me," she said, extending her hand out to the boy to help him up, "Now, how good are you at surprises?"

The two quietly walked out of the hospital room, the older woman looking back briefly before accidentally bumping into a male nurse.

"Sorry," Jessica apologized, rubbing her aching side.

"No problem," the man said, collecting his charts, "Are you all right?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine" she waved off the concerned look in his brown eyes, "Uh, can you tell me where the hospital gift shop is?"

"Certainly," he replied, "Go down this hall, make a left past the nurses' station then towards the elevators, on the first floor is the gift shop."

The blonde pursed her lips, she didn't want to leave Amy for that long, but she saw the excited look in her nephew's eyes at the thought of picking out a present for his sister.

"Ma'am? Are you sure you are all right?" he repeated.

"Yeah, I just don't want to leave my niece for that long," she murmured, not even realizing she just referred to Amy as her niece.

"Oh," the nurse paused, "Well I have a few minutes before I have to make rounds, I can stay with your niece for a bit until you come back."

"You can?" Jessica asked gratefully, "Thank you. My nephew and I will only be a few minutes. Jack, come meet..."

The boy rushed over from the window, looking over at his aunt but stopped short, watching as the older woman turned to look at him.

"I'll go in and sit with...?" the male nurse asked, "What's her name?"

"Amy," Jessica said, taking ahold of Jack's hand, "Amy Hotchner."

"Amy," he repeated, nodding before turning around to walk to head towards the room.

"Thanks again," Jessica said, then walked with Jack to the elevators. She never noticed that the boy kept his hard gaze back on Amy's hospital room.

"Aaron, I think it would have been wise to inform the Bureau about your current predicament regarding your daughter," Strauss told him, "After all we're not insensitive to your situation but you can't simultaneously work the babysitter case when you're worried for your own family's safety."

"I think that decision should have been left up to Aaron and Emily, Erin" Dave interjected, "Not that they wouldn't take it under advisement, right?"

"Of course," Hotch answered, "Ma'am, you know that we would never let our personal life interfere with our work, but we did step down from the case. Didn't Garcia tell you?"

"Yes, she did," Strauss told the trio, "That was only one of the reasons I came down here. The other was to tell you, that a friend from the Department of Justice ran the fingerprint analysis from the man claiming to be Jerry Carter's home..."

"What was found?" Emily asked, her hand itching to go to Hotch's but she needed to focus on what was found, not her own needs.

"First, the D.C.P.D found in his basement, there was what appeared to be a shrine dedicated to Amy," Strauss slowly replied, her own iron strong stomach sickened at the knowledge.

"Oh my God," Emily murmured, but her eyes narrowing on what she hadn't said, "What about his fingerprints?"

"About that..." Strauss trailed off, wondering how she was going to explain this to the girl's parents, "We believe we have narrowed down his identity."

"Who is he?" Hotch asked, that gnawing sensation of dread hitting him. He had a small clue, but to hear the confirmed identity was another thing.

"James Cartwright," Strauss said, watching her three agents quickly rush down the hall towards Amy's room.

"Aunt Jessie?" Jack tugged on the older woman's coat, "Can we go back to Amy's room now?"

The blonde frowned at that, ever since they left his sister's room the boy had been hesitant to speak. When she had asked him what kind of stuffed animal she would like, he only pointed to a stuffed green frog.

"Sweetie?" she whispered, "What's wrong? Are you worried about her?"

He nodded, his lip quivering as he held on to the plush toy, "Can we go now?"

"Jack, look at me," Jessica kneeled in front of him, "If something is bothering you, you have to talk about it. Keeping secrets from people who love each other, it's not good."

He scuffed his shoe on the floor, emitting a sigh, "I don't know if I should say."

"Baby, is it something important?" she asked the boy, who nodded but kept his eyes trained on the ground, "Is it something your Dad and Emily should know about?"

He shrugged but then nodded, "Yeah."

She placed her finger under his chin to get him to look up, and meet her concerned blue eyes, "Then you should say something."

Jack bit his lip before leaning in to whisper in Jessica's ear, her eyes widening in horror as she pulled back from him.

"Are you sure?" she asked him.

"Yes," the sandy-haired boy slowly answered.

The blonde woman quickly grabbed hold of Jack's hand and rushed out of the gift shop towards the elevators.

The three BAU agents slowly maneuvered themselves down the narrow hallway, Hotch moving in front of Emily blocking her from moving forward while Dave watched her back.

Hotch pushed open the door and the three nearly froze on the spot at the sight before them. A man in dark blue scrubs wearing a surgical cap had his back to the three agents.

"Freeze!" Hotch commanded, his clipping tone startling the man into pausing, "Hands in the air and slowly turn around."

The man slowly raised his hands, turning around and the three agents glared at the man, "Hello."

"James Cartwright, a.k.a. Jerry Carter, you're under arrest," Hotch coldly replied, holstering his weapon that he desperately wished to use.

"Step away from the girl," Dave said, remaining more calm than the two parents. Watching he man not moving, "Now!"

Emily rushed forward, knocking the man down like a linebacker both wincing as they hit the ground. Hotch and Dave quickly rushed to the two, Dave helping up the brunette woman while Hotch handcuffed the man who he viewed as a threat to his daughter.

"Why?" Carter asked, "Why are you arresting me? I didn't do anything wrong?"

"You did nothing wrong?" Emily hissed out, mindful of the sleeping girl next to her, while Jack looked on in fear, "How about identity theft, impersonating a school official? Or how about that you're trying to kidnap my daughter?"

"What?" Carter horrifying recoiled at the notion, "I... I'm..."

"Save it, James Cartwright," Dave said, guiding the man out the door, "Sneaking into a hospital and wearing scrubs? This isn't looking good for you. You do have the right to remain silent, you know?"

Emily quickly rushed over to the hospital bed, while Jessica carried in the silent Jack, both managing their way over to the still sleeping girl's side.

"How is she?" Jessica asked concerned.

"She's seems all right," Emily murmured, her hand tenderly brushing a loose strand of hair back, "Aaron?"

"Yeah?" he asked, walking over to her, his hand itching to take hers.

"Go down there with Dave," she told him, "Make sure that you get answers out of him."

"You mean?" he started, both focusing their attention on the slowly waking girl who was mumbling under her breath.

"Amy?" Hotch quietly called out, "Honey?"

"Dad?" the teen's groggy voice called out, "What time is it?"

"A little after seven," Emily answered, watching as Amy tried to sit up grasping on to the blanket,"Sweetie, why did you do this?"

"Huh?" the confused girl asked, "What happened?"

"Why did you run away?" Hotch asked, watching as Emily took a seat on the hospital bed.

"Aaron?" Jessica whispered garnering the man's attention, "I'm gonna take Jack..."

He nodded, watching as the blonde carefully picked up his son but Amy's voice took everyone by surprise.

"I overheard you and Emily," she murmured, her eyes drifting opened and closed, "Fighting about me..."

"Fighting?" Emily repeated, looking over at Hotch. The two dark-haired agents were baffled by that, neither remembering what the girl was speaking of.

"When you both were called in about me and the playground monitor," she mumbled, her eyelids drooping, "I heard you both talking about sending me away."

Emily gasped looking over at Hotch who was equally stunned. That was not what the two had been talking about, but evidently Amy had heard otherwise.

"I heard you say that you tried everything but you don't know how much more you could take," Amy repeated, her mind closing off, "That's what my other foster parents say before they shipped me back like a defective toy."

"Oh Amy," Emily murmured, her soft hand rubbing away at the lone tear that fell down the girl's cheek, even though it pained her to hear what Amy had believed her only concern was to protect the child, "That's not what we were talking about."

"It's ok," the girl murmured, opening her eyes, "I'm use to it by now. I chose to leave to spare everyone else the pain of telling me I wasn't wanted."

"That's not true," Hotch told her, kneeling down next to the bed, "You're very much wanted. Always."

The brunette shook her head, "You don't have to say that."

"It's the truth," Emily emphatically stated, "How could you ever doubt our love, baby?"

The girl covered her face with her arm, "Please don't try to spare my feelings, Emily. I really am ok with it."

Emily placed her hand on Amy's arm, turning the girl over to face her, "Amy, look at me," seeing no response from her daughter, she channeled her inner strict mother, "Look at me."

Sniffling, Amy turned over looking at Hotch and Emily, "What?"

"What we were talking about, wasn't about you," Hotch explained, re-positing his stance on the ground.

"Right," she scoffed, "Then who were you talking about?"

"Me," Jessica meekly answered, watching as three sets of brown eyes looked upon her, "They were talking about me, Amy."

"Aunt Jessie?" Jack mumbled, his inquisitive eyes searching hers.

"Jack, come over here," Hotch murmured to his son. The tyke wandered over to his father, letting his Hotch set him down on the over sized chair before turning around to his former sister-in-law.

"Amy?" the blonde apologetically said, "This really had nothing to do with you."

Emily looked from Hotch back to the other woman, she wanted to speak up but knew it was best not to aggravate the situation.

"Really?" the girl asked, "Then what were you arguing about?"

"Well actually," Jessica paused, "I was a bit angry with your parents."

"Why?" she asked, watching as the boy fidgeted on the chair trying to appear like he was eavesdropping but he was.

Jessica maneuvered herself to the other side of the bed, taking an empty seat beside her. Clearing her throat, "I was angry because Emily was planning to legally adopt Jack..."

"But she's already Jack's mom," Amy answered confused, looking over at the agents, "Right?"

"Not legally," Emily paused, "Not that, that matters."

Hotch placed a tender hand on Emily's shoulder, "We wanted to make things legal, like we were doing with you."

"A piece of paper doesn't make someone your parents," Amy told them, looking over at Jessica, "You were afraid she was trying to replace your sister, right?"

"Part of it," Jessica admitted, a look of shame quickly washed across her face, "It just wasn't about Haley," she glanced from Hotch to Jack, "I was afraid I was going to be replaced as well."

"What?" Amy asked, beyond confused by that, "Why?"

The blonde looked silently at the floor, "I felt like I wasn't needed anymore," taking a deep breath, she turned to Emily and Hotch, "Can I have a moment...?"

"Oh," Emily said, "Yeah. Jack, why don't you, your Dad and I go for a walk?"

"But..." Jack started to say, but saw Amy give him a nod, "Ok."

As the girl and the older woman watched the three quietly leave the room, Amy turned back to Jack's aunt sizing her up.

"I'm not here to take your place and neither is Emily," she stated matter-of-factly, "We both know how much Jack loves you and his Mom. I would never want to replace his affection for her, and neither would Emily."

"Your Mom," Jessica corrected, "I know she loves Jack and you," she paused, seemingly searching for the words, "She brings a certain happiness that both Jack and Aaron haven't had in a long time, not even when I stepped up to help. I can see how they have always been a family, even before Haley's passing."

Amy felt a wave of sympathy for the woman, she knew what it was like to lose a mother, even if she had never met her own, it still hurt.

"And before you came into their lives, I never saw them happier," she watched as Amy's eyes went to her fingers, picking at her nail bed, "But I always had been there, and I'm jealous of you."

"Of me?" she asked, looking up to Jessica's blue eyes, "You never really ever said anything to me since we've met."

"I know and I apologize for that," the blonde said, "But first it was Emily, now you," she quickly added, "Not that either of you have been bad in Jack and Aaron's life, but I didn't... don't, want to be replaced."

"How could you ever doubt that?" Amy asked, astonished, "You Jack's family, you're his blood. No one can ever replace his Mother, and no one can replace you."

Jessica was touched by the girl's words, taken in by the fact that someone so young could be so wise. She truly was a Hotchner, blood or not.

"I know for a fact that Hotch and Emily appreciate everything you do for Jack," Amy told Jessica, "Not just for babysitting but keeping Haley alive for him."

The girl reached over, touching Jessica's forearm, "Do you know that they both talk to Jack about his Mom?" she smiled, "I never knew that someone could burst out laughing during an emotional scene, like Haley did during Pirates of Penzance."

Jessica chuckled, "Yeah, she did" clearing her throat, Jessica sat up straight, "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot," Amy said, "Not like I have anywhere else to be, other than grounded, I'm sure."

"And rightly so," the blonde said, "Was it really what you overheard that made you decide to look for your biological father? I thought you loved living with Aaron and Emily?"

"I do. I really do," Amy licked her lower lip then sighed, "I guess, maybe... I don't know I was preparing myself for the worst. Waiting to be shipped back to the St. Peters," the brunette looked down at her reddening skin, "I can always tell the exact moment that I'm going to be kicked out of whatever new family that I've been taken in by. It's happened before, why shouldn't it happen again?"

"Then obviously you don't know Aaron or Emily," Jessica told her emphatically, "You should know that when either of them love, they love with their whole hearts," her blue eyes trained on the girl, "And they love you so much, Amy, they really do."

"I know," she murmured, "It's just hard to open up to someone when you grow up the way I did," she admitted, "Trust doesn't come easy, and sometimes it bites you in the ass..." she saw Jessica raise an eyebrow at her, "Butt. It bites you in the butt."

"I am sorry about the way I behaved," Jessica said apologetically, cutting Amy off before she could correct her, "Whether it came out or not, I still should respect your parents decision in taking you in and not just claiming that it was about Jack."

"Thank you," Amy genuinely told her, "That means a lot."

The two women's heads looked over at the opening hospital door, "Knock, knock. Amy it's time to check your vitals... Oh, I'm sorry I didn't realize you had company."

"That's all right," Jessica said standing up, she turned back to the girl, "I'll send your parents in."

As the nurse and Jessica swapped places, the older woman gave one more glance to her brother in law's daughter before walking out, peace filling her.

"You have a nice aunt there," the nurse commented to the girl.

"Thank you," Amy said, not bothering to correct the woman. She knew family was who you chose, and she still wanted to choose the Hotchners.

"Sweetie?" Emily said, knocking on the door, "It's me."

"Come in," Amy called out, while the nurse finished writing in her chart, "Where's Dad and Jack?"

"Hotch went down to the BAU to give the team a hand with Carter... Cartwright," she corrected herself, trying to control her temper about the man who snuck into Amy's room, "And Jessica's taking Jack home for the night."

"So how long will I be stuck here for?" she asked, her skin crawling to be out of the hospital, something Emily knew all to well about.

"I'm not sure..." Emily answered, looking to the departing nurse, "Miss?"

"Oh, I know that Dr. Brown wants Amy to stay overnight," the nurse replied, "And speak with the on staff psychiatrist, but she'll probably be here until at least tomorrow afternoon."

"Great," the teen sullenly muttered.

"Thank you," Emily acknowledge as the woman left.

"So... you've got any cards with you?" the girl joked.

The brunette raised an eyebrow at that, "You know what happens now."

"We talk," Amy finished with a sight, "I knew this was coming. So what's up?"

As the older woman turned to her daughter ready for the long talk that had been pushed to the side for quite a while. She wasn't going to leave until everything was hashed out once and for all.

* * *

"The family is a haven in a heartless world." Christopher Lasch


	17. Against The Wind

Hotch sighed as he quickly stormed through the local police station, showing his credentials as he bypassed a rookie police officer. Making his way towards the interrogation rooms he nearly ran into his longtime friend and subordinate.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going, Aaron?" Dave said, grabbing a hold of Hotch's arm, stopping his younger friend in place.

"To question a would-be kidnapper," Hotch stated matter-of-factly.

"Uh uh," Dave shook his head, "You're not running this case, Aaron."

"Why the hell not?" he demanded. There was no way he would allow some two-bit cop to handle his daughter's case, "I captured Cartwright."

"You're impartial, Aaron," Dave pointed out, "You can't think clearly in this situation. Rules of fact, doctors can't treat their own families, well Feds and cops can't interrogate someone who was victimizing their own..."

Hotch winced at that. Not only of Dave's poor choice of words, but because he knew the older man was right. Not that he would ever admit that.

"You would only see what that man had allegedly planned to do to your child, Aaron," Dave added, "Let the locals handle this."

"Locals," Hotch muttered, disdained at the idea until he saw Will nod before the younger detective entered the interrogation room.

That was a mild relief to the usually stoic Unit Chief. He had someone in their on his side, on Amy's side.

"You know Will," Dave said, watching his friend relax as the younger man and his partner sat down in front of Cartwright, "He's a good cop."

"I know," Hotch said, standing beside Dave in front of the two-way mirror, "I just wish I could be the one in their to put that final nail in his coffin."

"You and me both, pal," Dave admitted, "But at least we know it's over."

"Do we now?" Morgan asked, wandering behind up behind the two men, "Garcia ran a back trace on Cartwright and his alias, and there's nothing that links him up to the reason Amy ran away. The only contact he had with her outside of school was the email for her to be in his office three weeks ago."

Hotch wrenched the papers out of his subordinates hand, looking over the information, "This still proves that he was stalking her."

"The photos in his home office, and the Trojan horse on her computer prove it," Dave added, watching as Morgan shook his head, "What?"

"Emily called," Morgan said, "Jessica got her to open up about why she ran, and it's not because that creep in there talked her into it, it's because she was afraid she being abandoned again."

Hotch winced at that, he never realized just how insecure Amy had been. He wished that he knew how to prove that he intended to be her father for the rest of her life.

"What else?" Hotch asked.

"Amy and Zoe were trying to track down her biological father," he mumbled, nodding to Cartwright, "She had a list of potentials."

"Wait, I thought when Garcia was trying to prove to Amy that Emily wasn't her biological mother that she gave Amy the names of her biological parents, Evelyn Price and Cartwright?" Dave pondered, "Didn't she?"

"She did," Hotch nodded, "Did she say why?"

"When Amy and Zoe were trying to look into all the financial bankers in Detroit," Morgan paused, "There was some sort of a mix up and she ended up thinking she was contacting James Cartwright's brother Robert."

"Robert Cartwright," Hotch murmured, looking back at the paper, "He's seventeen?"

"Half brothers," Morgan explained, "Different mothers. And I can't find anything out about the kid, other than he's disappeared from his school."

"You think he's that Ryan guy?" Hotch asked, "We still haven't found him when we were looking into Amy's disappearance."

"Hold on," Dave said, walking over to the two-way mirror and knocking on it, "We'll pass this along to Will, Morgan, you and JJ go talk to Amy's friends."

"What are you going to do, Hotch?" Morgan asked once Will returned to his interrogation.

The team leader turned back to the two-way mirror, his mind telling him to stay put but his gut ordering him to follow up and track down Ryan.

"I'll stay put," he assured his agents, "Go find that kid."

Dave nodded, rushing out while Morgan passed Hotch the information then followed after the other agent out of the D.C. precinct.

"Hey, when I get back here, we're going to talk," Will's partner barked out storming out of the small room.

"Yeah, that'll happen," Cartwright scoffed, turning his head away in dismissive manner.

Will closed the door, leaning against the wall looking at his wife's boss, "How are you doing?"

"About the same," Hotch shrugged, "So I take it James Cartwright's invoked his right to an attorney?"

"Nope," Will paused, "He's only saying that he had nothing to do with Zoe's death and that he'll only speak with Amy."

"That's not going to happen," Hotch grinded out. There was no way he'd let Amy be subjected to James Cartwright anymore then she already had, "I need to get in their and talk to him."

"Then you know it will have to be off the record," Will reminded him.

"I know," Hotch told him, walking to the door, "But I need answers."

"I told you, I'm not talking unless I can talk to my daughter," Cartwright grumbled, his head resting against the metal desk underneath him.

"Amy's not your daughter," Hotch emphatically stated, "Never has been and never will be."

"Hotchner," Cartwright said, sitting up, "Why am I not surprised to see that you are here?"

"You stalked and had planned to kidnap a fifteen year old," Hotch's montone voice rang out, void of emotion, "My fifteen year old daughter, where else would I be?"

"I don't know," Cartwright shrugged, one hand rubbing the cuffed one, "How about trying to find her best friend's killer?"

Hotch unbuttoned his suit jacket, shrugging it off and setting on the chair in front of him, "I'm looking right at him," he narrowed his dark eyes on the other man, "Why did you kill that girl?"

"I didn't kill anyone," Cartwright exclaimed, "Especially not a child."

"You lied to us before, why should now be any different?" Hotch stated, "By the way the D.C. police searched your home and we've seen the shrine you have dedicated to my daughter."

"It's not a shrine," Cartwright said, "That's just a room."

"Well, since you have waived your rights to an attorney, I'm not in here as an active member on this case but only in here as a courtesy to let you know that you are never getting near my daughter again," Hotch told him, "And you are really lucky that you are in here and not out there because I'd make sure you'd never breathe again. Not after everything you've done."

"Oh?" Cartwright queried, "Is that a threat?"

"No, that's a promise," Hotch stated, "We're obtaining a restraining order, and once the adoption papers are officially signed off on in a few short weeks, there's nothing connecting you to Amy."

"Except for my blood," Cartwright told him, "That's my blood pumping in her veins. _My_ daughter, not yours or your wife's; mine."

"She was never your daughter," Hotch said, standing up as he picked up his suit jacket, "You might want to tell your little partner that."

"What partner?" Cartwright asked.

"Ryan?" Hotch said, "He's your brother, Robert Cartwright? The person Amy and Zoe unintentionally spoke with when they were searching her lineage... Tell your brother he's next."

Cartwright pursed his lips, his eyes trained on the man's retreating form.

"You both have a nice time on death row," Hotch said walking out the door, he turned, "You do know what they do to child killers in prison, don't you?"

He left the man stewing in the interrogation room, a mild sense of relief washing through him knowing that for now one problem had been dealt with. He could handle Cartwright's little brother when the time came, after all he was just a kid.

Amy looked up as Emily came back in her room carrying a hospital tray with her, "They don't really expect me to eat that stuff, do they?"

"Well, it's a Salisbury steak with mashed potatoes and corn," Emily said, setting the brown tray down in front of her, "And it does _not_ look appealing at all?"

"Not unless my name was Fido," Amy joked, "Even then I still don't think I'd find that appetizing."

Emily smirked at that, "And that's why you're going to have to promise me that you won't tell your Dad about this," the brunette opened up her large bag and pulled out a fast food bag, "Don't tell your Dad."

"Ooh, hamburgers?" the girl grinned, "On my word of honor."

As Emily set the bag down, she couldn't help but smile at the happy way Amy hungrily ate. It was almost like nothing had happened, though she knew in the back of her mind that they still had a long way to go before everything would be normal again.

"I take it you're hungry?" Emily teased the girl, watching as Amy nodded with a mouthful of french fries.

The brunette cringed at the sound of her ringing cell phone, "Excuse me."

"Mmm hmm," Amy hummed, turning her attention towards the muted television, a stabbed guilt when Zoe's face appeared on the screen.

She didn't need to hear whatever the newscaster was, but was surprised when she saw her guidance counselor's face on the screen, "What the..."

Reaching over she turned the volume up slightly while Emily was out in the hall on the phone.

"The FBI's Behavioural Analysis Unit is assisting D.C. police in the death of local high school student, Zoe Green," the female news anchor had a side by side composite of Zoe's face, "The police are also looking for a this man, seventeen year old Ryan Manning. Also held for questioning is a man identified as James Cartwright. Cartwright, a native of Michigan is also being held on fraudulent credentials."

The girl blanched at hearing the man's name. That was the person she and Zoe had been looking for. Her father, James Cartwright.

Amy shut the sound off again, while Emily opened the hospital door, "Sweetie? I'll just be another minute. Ok?"

"Ok," the girl said, picking at what was left of her dinner. The sudden loss of appetite didn't go unnoticed by Emily, but this call was more important.

As Emily took her call, Amy kicked the blankets off herself, grasping on to the side bars of the hospital bed and got out of the bed. She shakily wandered over to the side, trying to reach the phone when she heard something that made her pause.

"What do you mean you can't find Ryan Manning?" Emily hissed out, unaware that she had been eavesdropped on, "You have to find him. Garcia, I don't care if you have to hack every database known to man, find him."

Holding on to the wall, Amy took a deep breath wondering why Ryan needed to be found. He wasn't the one following her, that was Carter... Cartwright, she reminded herself.

"I don't want that little son of a bitch near Amy," Emily stated, "We don't know if he's a threat."

 _'Threat?'_ the girl queried an eyebrow, _'How is he a threat?'_

An image of Ryan talking to Cartwright at school replayed in her mind. One from when she had talked with Michael.

That drove a streak of fear through the girl, she befriended Ryan. Up until he made that comment, she had thought... shaking her head of those thoughts. She wasn't going to go down that path, not now or ever again.

Forgoing her reason for getting out of bed, she slowly made her way back to her bed when Emily came back in.

"Honey, were you trying to get something?" the brunette asked.

"My phone?" Amy offered, not wanting Emily to know about overhearing the conversation.

"You wanted to call Michael?" Emily asked, watching as the girl pursed her lips before nodding, "Ok, but only for a little while, you need to rest. Ok?"

"Ok," Amy said, taking the proffered cell phone and sending a text message quickly while Emily sat down in her spot by the bed, "So I get sprung tomorrow?"

"Possibly," Emily assured her, "That's up to the doctors," the mother knew the one subject that Amy wanted to avoid, her friendships with Ashley and the girls, "There's something I think you should know."

"What?"

"I don't know where you stand with Ashley," Emily started, "We know about what happened."

"Oh," the girl licked her lower lip, "Well don't worry about that."

"You know what surprised me, was how quickly that girl turned on you," Emily stated, "I knew high school was rough, starting over in a new place. I've been through that myself a few times. And if you don't want to, you don't have to go back to that school."

"I want to," Amy said, surprising Emily, "I'm not going to let one person ruin my life. If she has a problem with me, that's on her, but I like that school. Michael goes there, Jack goes there, and I have friends there. Whether Ashley wants to be my friend or not, that's on her not me."

Emily was impressed with the maturity that she, herself, lacked at that age. Maybe it was because the girl had to grow up faster than most but she'd let Amy make her own decision about the school.

"Is there anything else you want to talk about?" Emily asked.

"I saw the news," Amy paused, "Do you really think that Carter... Cartwright... did he kill Zoe?"

Reaching across the bed, Emily took the girl's hand in her own, "We don't know yet."

"But do _you_ think it?" Amy reiterated.

"It's possible," Emily admitted, she didn't want to go into great detail but understood Amy's need for answers, "At this point, anything is possible."

"Including Ryan being involved," Amy added, "As a profiler, do you think they're involved?"

"Yes," she honestly answered, "I do think they know more than Cartwright is saying."

The girl slowly nodded her head, "You're going to find Ryan, right?"

"He won't go near you ever again," Emily promised, there was no way she'd let anyone ever hurt her daughter again.

Amy turned on her side, not to shut the brunette out but to think. A stab of guilt fell heavy on her chest, knowing that this was her fault. Had she just spoke up, Zoe would still be alive, Emily and Hotch wouldn't look like they hadn't spoken to each other in a month and she wouldn't have wound up the center of a manhunt along with Ryan and Cartwright.

"Don't let your mind go down that road," Emily spoke up, "I know that look."

Turning her head towards the side, "What?"

"The guilt," Emily pointed out, "If you let it consume you, it'll just eat away at you until you think the reason it's raining is your own fault."

"How would you know?" Amy bit out, "Zoe's dead. If I hadn't gone digging into my past she'd still be here and Carter, or whatever his name is, wouldn't be here, Ryan would..."

"And if I had never adopted you then everything would different," Emily lamented, "Amy blaming yourself isn't going to change anything. Life just happens. As tragic and undeserving as Zoe's death is, it's not your fault. Did you kill her?"

"No, but I'm..." she started.

"You didn't lay a finger on her," Emily pointed out, "You're no more responsible for her death than Jack is. If you keep going over the 'what ifs' in your mind then only thing that will accomplish is more regrets."

"I can't help it," she whimpered, "I was her best friend, the one person who should have protected her, and I let her down."

"You did not let Zoe down," Emily told her emphatically, "You hear me? You were her friend, and she loved you, just as much as you loved her and that is all that matters."

While Emily wrapped the girl up, protectively in her arms, she could feel Amy shaking lightly in her arms while she cried her little heart out. The brunette knew that despite the fact that she was in denial and pain at the moment, the girl was slowly coming to terms with everything that she had been through the past few weeks.

"Shh," Emily softly cooed, her hand rubbing Amy's back, "Get some rest, ok?"

Amy nodded, lying back down on the bed while Emily placed the plush green dinosaur, that Jack had brought earlier, next to her.

Emily sat back down in the chair, prepared to stay by Amy's side no matter what. She just wished that Hotch was here with her. She knew they all had a tough road ahead of them.

* * *

"One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters." George Herbert


	18. Nowhere To Run

"What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail." Author Unknown

* * *

Emily watched as Amy fidgeted around, trying to get comfortable.

"You need an extra blanket?" the brunette asked, watching the girl shake her head, "How about some lunch then?"

Amy turned her head to the clock, "It's way past lunchtime."

"Fine, then how about a snack?" Emily rolled her eyes, "Huh, chicken noodles and stars?"

"Uh, no thanks," Amy replied the mental image of Garcia's purchasing those items made her cringe, "Where's Jack?"

"On a play date with Henry," Emily told her, placing another blanket on Amy, "He'll be back later on."

"Oh," the girl swallowed, shrugging herself free of the extra blankets, "I think that's enough blankets, Mom."

The distracted woman looked down, sheepishly grinning, "Sorry, my mind has been a little distracted the past few days."

"And that's my fault," Amy muttered, pulling Dean up next to her, "I've made so many mistakes, I don't even know where to begin."

"Hey," Emily said, tapping the girl on her nose, "No going down that path, you remember what Dr. Burke said."

"I know, I know. Talk it out," Amy interrupted, "I just wish that this was all over. I mean it's been two days, why haven't they found Ryan... or whatever his name is?"

"We're looking, honey," Emily sighed, her hand running across Amy's bed head, "Eventually we'll find him. We always do. Your Dad and the team will find him."

"I know," the girl murmured looking away, "I think I'll take a nap."

"Oh, ok," Emily set the remote control on the nightstand, "Get some rest, I'll be back in a bit with some lunch, ok?"

"Ok, thanks," Amy replied, rolling over on her side, stuffed dinosaur in hand before closing her eyes with a sigh.

As Emily slowly walked out the bedroom, she partly closed the door taking a quick glance at the girl's back before wandering into the living room. Tiredly rubbing her hand across her face she exhaled, feeling as though the weight of the world was still rested on her shoulders but that it wasn't as bad as it was before when Amy was still in the hospital.

Even though Emily yearned to be out there, tracking down the boy that she knew was responsible for her daughter's pain, and the loss of her best friend, the mother could not, or rather would not leave Amy's side. Not until she knew that she was completely safe.

Sitting down on her dark couch, Emily picked up the black laptop, and went over the files that Garcia emailed to her so that she could stay abreast of the case while working from home. She knew that there wasn't much time to focus on the case before Jessica brought Jack home so she went over the latest notes that the team had gathered in the last few days.

"What the...?" she murmured, re-reading the personal history of James Cartwright and his family when she heard something coming from the basement.

Getting up, she walked through the kitchen towards the basement door. Standing by the doorway, the brunette felt her agent instincts kick in when she opened the door to the pitch dark room. Once she slowly descended inside the basement, she reached over turning on the light switch only to find that it won't turn on.

"Great," she muttered, cursing her over active imagination, "Calm down, Prentiss. It's not like I'm in The Lost Boys. There is no evil lurking in the shadows."

Guiding herself in the darkness, she reaches over to the work shelf, carefully opening the tool chest, Emily grabbed the flashlight flicking it on.

"Now, what the fuck was that?" she muttered to herself, turning the flashlight upon the shadows, "Great Emily, start talking to yourself. Now who sounds like they need the shrink?"

Shaking her head, she scanned the basement once again, seeing nothing amiss she turned off the flashlight and walked up the stairs only for the door to slam shut.

"What the..." she muttered, hurrying up the stairs and turning the doorknob, "Hello? Amy? Is someone out there?"

"Will somebody open this door?" she called out, pounding loudly on the locked door, "What is going on out there?"

While she was banging on the door, trying to find away out something occurred to her. Outside of Amy, there wasn't suppose to be anyone else in the house, unless...

As that horrible thought crossed her mind Emily grabbed ahold of both banisters leaning back she kicked at the door.

Amy laid in her bed, the blankets pulled all the way up over her shoulders. Her mind finally settling down allowing her to relax to a slumber. Snuggling underneath the covers she heard footsteps trek across the hall carpet stopping.

Turning her head towards the door she sighed, it had to be Emily checking up on her again. It wasn't as though she was ungrateful for the overly concern from her mother, but all she wanted was some space. Despite that, both Hotch and Emily gave her a small bit of space while she was in the hospital, she knew that it would be a long time before they left her out of sight, and she only had herself to blame for that among other things.

"Knock it off," she muttered, not knowing if it were to herself or to Emily, whom she believed was opening her bedroom door.

The squeak of her bedroom door made the girl bury her face into her green dinosaur and resist the urge to scream. She could sense a presence in her bedroom, one that made her freeze. Those footsteps, she didn't recognize.

Turning slightly on her side she shrugged the blanket off her and sat up, gasping at the person before her, "What are you doing here?"

Emily kept kicking at the door with her booted heel, silently cursing herself for not being able to do the one thing that Morgan could every single time she needed him. Kick down a door.

"Damn it," the brunette muttered, hearing the house phone ring, "Amy? Amy? Amy, answer the phone!"

Pressing her head against the hardwood, she took a deep breath readying herself to try once again when the beeping on the answering machine went off.

 _"Emily? Em, you there?"_ Hotch's voice rang out, _"Jesus honey, where are you? I tried your cell phone... anyways, do not answer the door! He's escaped."_

"Who?" the brunette paused, her mind instantly going to Cartwright, "Shit! AMY!"

 _"We're on our way there,"_ Hotch quickly replied, _"I'm calling Jess next. Please honey be home."_

The dark-haired woman grunted as she backed up to the top of the staircase and rushed the basement door determined to free herself to get to her daughter.

"Hello Amy," the tall figure said leaning on the door frame, "Feeling under the weather, are we?"

The girl immediately backed up, reaching across for her cell phone, the man reached into his back pocket, his eyes never wavering from hers.

"I would advise against that," he stated, "Unless you want your Mother to pay for it."

"What..." clearing her throat, "What did you do to her? Where is my Mom?"

"Safe," he cooly replied extending his hand, "Now, come with me."

"I don't think I want to," she cleared her throat, "Actually, I know I don't want to."

"Amy, don't make me use this," the man pulled a taser out from his back pocket watching as the girl's hands instinctively raised, "Come on."

Emitting a sigh, Amy slowly walked towards him as he moved backwards to the doorway, "You should put some shoes on and a sweater, it's getting cold out there."

"And in here too," the girl muttered, slipping her feet into some dark tennis shoes than grabbing the zipped up hoodie on her chair, "Where are we going?"

"Out," he cryptically replied, his head turning when he heard the telephone ringing downstairs, "Hurry up."

The girl pursed her lip as she was swiftly ushered out of the bedroom towards the staircase, only for him to grasp onto her shoulder.

"Hang on," he muttered, when the message alert hit the answering machine.

 _"Emily? Em, you there?"_ Hotch's voice rang out, _"Jesus honey, where are you? I tried your cell phone... anyways, do not answer the door! He's escaped."_

"No kidding," the man muttered, continuing down the stairs with Amy.

 _"We're on our way there,"_ Hotch quickly replied, _"I'm calling Jess next. Please honey be home."_

"But we won't be," the man huffed, as he moved the two of them towards the door.

"Wait!" Amy said, halting in her steps, "You can't just leave my Mom locked in the basement."

The man tilted his head to the side, "And why should I allow her out? So she could shoot me?"

"Please," Amy begged, "Just unlock the door."

"We need to get going before Agent Hotchner shows up with his team," he ordered, placing his hand on the door knob.

"Look, I'm doing what you've asked without fighting you," the girl reasoned, "The very least you could do is unlock that basement door, you don't have to tell her, just do it quietly so that she won't be trapped inside."

The man huffed out an annoyed sigh, but conceded. "Fine, but no funny business," he told her adamantly, "You even think of telling her I'm at that door then it's all over for her. Got it?"

"Yes," she swallowed allowing him to lead her through the living room towards the basement.

Once they reached the white wooden door, they both instinctively reached for the handle only for Amy to feel a hand wrap around her neck pulling the brunette back against her abductors' chest when the doorbell rang.

"Who the fuck is that?" he hissed into her ear, wrenching her into the kitchen to look out the side window.

"I don't know," she answered honestly, surprised but relieved that someone showed up.

"Amy?" a male voice called out, "Amy?"

Before she could even comprehend the thought of calling out for help her mouth was covered with his larger hand and she's roughly dragged from the kitchen into the dining room away from the windows.

"What the hell is he doing here?" the man grumbled at the girl, looking down at her wide eyes, "Why isn't he in school?"

The brunette shrugged, mumbling into his hand which he pulled away as he hushed her.

"Please don't hurt Michael," she begged, hating that anyone else could get harmed because of her, "Please."

He held up one finger, pursing his lips, "You send him away then."

She nodded, her heart racing as the two walked silently to the door, as he unlatched the top lock that he earlier locked, he whispered, "Do not let him know I'm here or Michael and your Mother will pay."

"Amy?" Michael called out, "Are you there?"

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door ajar, watching her boyfriend's face light up at the sight of her as he held up presents for her.

"Hey," he said, extending the teddy bear and yellow daisy, "I know I'm probably banned by your parents but I had to see you."

"That's sweet," she said, clearing her throat, "You can't be here now."

"I know, I know, I know," he said, "You don't want me ditching school but honestly who could blame me after the past few weeks?"

"Michael," she said, trying to control the waver in her voice, "It's not a good time now."

"Are you ok?" he asked, remorsefully searching her eyes.

"Michael," she sighed, "I'm really tired."

"Oh," the boy took in her appearance as he held on to the gifts, "Are you still having a hard time adjusting to what happened with your friend and Mr. Carter?"

"Among other things," she muttered, trying not to wince when she felt her hidden arm squeezed, "It's not a really good time, Michael, my Dad will be home soon."

"Ok," he nodded, "I call you later than?"

"Bye," she said, slowly closing the door on him.

Amy backed away while her abductor moved himself in front of the door, "See, he doesn't matter. Nothing else matters after we leave this place..."

"No," Amy shook her head, "I'm not going anywhere with you."

"But you are," he reiterated, "I don't want to hurt you, Amy."

The girl backed herself against the wall, not realizing that she had nowhere else to go. When she saw him descending upon her, she blindly reached for whatever was beside her and rushed at him with musical note bookend.

"Ah," she screamed pummeling him while he tried to shield himself from the onset attack.

"Stop it!" he barked out, his arms moving up to block his face, "Stop Amy."

Not backing down from this, at having the upper hand Amy used her free hand to shove him back both caught off guard when the front door kicked open.

Amy surprised by the sudden abrupt reappearance of Michael, her tormentor had taken that opportunity of distraction and wrenched the bookend from her hand and tackle the boy.

"Ryan?" Michael gasped in surprise, fighting to free himself of the other boy's attack.

"Stop it, stop it, stop it!" Amy yelled, running over and jumping on Ryan's back to separate the two, "Get away from him."

While the three tussle for control on the ground, none of them could hear the pounding coming from the basement or the loud sounds of screeching tires.

"I'm going to kill you!" Ryan shouted at Michael, his fists pounding wildly into the other boy's sides.

Michael bent his knee, jabbing it upwards into Ryan's stomach causing him to flinch at the blow which gave Michael the upper hand. Nodding to Amy, she removed herself from the two, Michael rolled them so he was on top of the violent boy, holding him down.

"Call 911!" Michael ordered his girlfriend who rushed for the phone. Looking at the thrashing person below him, he narrowed his eyes on him, "You made a big mistake coming here, and you made an even bigger one going after my girlfriend."

Ryan's glare harden on Michael but the other boy was relieved that he could keep the unstable one down while Amy was on the phone.

"Yes please hurry," the girl said, wandering over to the banging basement door, "Yes, I'll hold."

While she unlocked the door, she was unprepared for the door being kicked in and fell backwards onto the kitchen floor.

"Oof," she grunted, looking up to the apologetic face of her mother, "He's in there, Ryan's in there."

Helping her daughter up, Amy watched as Emily grabbed a butcher knife and moved towards the living room. Turning her head, she carefully scanned the room before looking back at Amy, "Stay right behind me."

Nodding, she gulped, "He's got Michael. You have to save him."

"I won't let anything happen to him," she promised, then slowly entered the living room hearing nothing. No noise, no shouting. Her eyes widen in horror when the two women saw an unconscious Michael lying by the couch.

"Oh my God," Amy cried rushing for her boyfriend, but Emily grasped her arm shaking her head, "What?"

"Don't," she whispered, nodding her head at the opened sliding glass door.

"I can't let anyone else get hurt because of me," she said, tears forming in her eyes, "I _need_ to check on him."

Emily lifted one finger, silencing the distraught girl while she quickly scanned the rest of the room to make sure that Ryan wasn't hiding in plain sight.

Kneeling down beside the unconscious boy, Emily checked his pulse, "He's breathing."

"Oh thank God," she murmured, sitting down next to him, "Thank God. Wait, where's Ryan then?"

"I'm going to check," Emily said, moving towards the wall safe, she typed in the code and grabbed her service weapon, "I want you to lock the door behind me and don't open it until I come back or the police come. You understand?"

"Yeah," she said, placing a warm hand on Michael's cheek before maneuvering to the front door and securing the locks.

While she quickly moved to the backdoor, she could see the outlined shape of her Mother walking towards the side of the house.

"Be safe," Amy silently whispered, clicking the lock in place, turning back to the still unconscious Michael, "Michael? Michael, wake up."

Kneeling beside him, her hand went instinctively to the bruise on his forehead. Lightly rubbing her thumb across his cheek, she vowed to whatever deity that she would never keep anything from her family again if everyone came out safe and no one got hurt.

"Michael, please wake up," she reiterated, wondering how long it would take for the police or the BAU to show up.

As she sat in unrelenting silence, Amy once again felt as though all this were her fault; Zoe's death, Cartwright showing up and Ryan's attack on Michael...

"Amy?" a murmured voice whimpered out, relieving her, "Where... where's Ryan?"

"Shh," the girl whispered, "He's gone. My Mom's looking for him outside. Don't worry the police and the BAU are on their way..."

His dark eyes widened gasping out, "Be..."

"What?" she frowned, "Michael?"

"Wat.." he started, "Ryan..."

"Don't worry about him," Amy said, "I don't know what his problem was, but the police will catch up with him."

"Behind you," he finished with an exhale, while her head whipped around to the approaching figure holding a gun on the two teenagers.

"Up Amy," Ryan hissed out, "Move away from Michael."

"What are you doing?" she asked, shielding her boyfriend from the gun while Michael struggled to get up.

"I'm finishing this once and for all," he stated, "I'm not going to let all my hard work be flushed out by that loser."

"What?" she asked, "Why are you doing this?"

"For us," Ryan said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, "I knew... I knew that if I got them all away from you that we could be together."

"Are you insane?" Michael groaned, "There's no way you and Amy will ever be together."

"Shut up," Ryan ordered, "You don't deserve her, and she doesn't love you. Not like I do."

Amy watched as the boy paced back and forth, muttering to himself as he waved the gun around.

"When I saw your online profile, I knew we were meant to be," he said, "You have no idea how long I've waited patiently by while your life changed, some for the better," he looked around the immaculate home, "And the rest for the worst."

His eyes landed on the boy whose hand she was holding, "Do you have any idea what I'm talking about?"

She shook her head, too stunned to speak.

"Amy," he kneeled in front of her, his hand stroking her pale cheek as she tried to hide her recoil, "Do you remember on that adoption website looking for your father and speaking with Robert?"

"Cartwright," she stated with finality, "James' brother?"

"Yes," he said, "I lied."

"About what, you sick freak?" Michael barked out.

"I believe I was speaking with Amy," Ryan's cold eyes landed on his rival, "And unless you'd like a bullet in the middle of your forehead you will shut up."

Amy tried to keep composed as she looked down at Michael, "Michael, please?"

The boy gulped but nodded, he didn't want to hear what the psychotic in front of him had to say, but he knew engaging him would only result in his death. He knew that for a fact.

"Finish it, Ryan," Amy ordered, "What's so damn important?"

"I'm not James' brother," he revealed, "That bastard may be your blood but he's not mine."

"You lied to me online. So what?" she asked, "Why are you here then?"

"So we can be together," he stated, reaching a hand out only for her to flinch away in disgust, "Michael's not good enough for you, neither was James Cartwright or your friends that's why I did what I did."

"What did you do?" she asked again, her mind putting puzzle pieces together but wondering that it can't be true.

"Did you know that your parents contacted Cartwright to get him to relinquish his parental rights before adopting you?" he asked her, "He never got the messages, did you know that? You're in this home, this family because of me."

"What?" she asked.

"And you know that fight between Ashley and you revolving around Zach?" he said, "All me."

"Excuse me?" she asked stunned, shaking her head, "This... this doesn't make any sense."

"Well to be honest, Ashley's not that gullible to believe that Zach could cheat on her," he commented, "But damn she went after you in pure glee. Like she had waited all along to do it."

"Why?" she asked, "Why did you do all this?"

"Because, I just explained it," Ryan reminded her "For us."

"Us?" she shuddered internally, "There is no _us_."

"Their will be," he said, standing up, "Now say goodbye to Michael, it's not easy saying goodbye to someone you love. Zoe certainly didn't."

"You killed Zoe?" she asked, a tear falling down her face, "You killed my best friend?"

"Yep," he said nonchalantly as he scanned the outside, not noticing the sheer anger flash in her eyes, "So are you ready to go..."

He was unprepared and surprised when she lunged at him, knocking him down.

"What the..." he grunted, when she elbowed him in the ribs before standing up and kicking him stomach, "Amy, stop it."

Amy knew that she needed to fight back, not just for Michael's life but her own too, while Ryan struggled to get up.

The girl's mind flashed to every single person affected by Ryan's actions; her parents, Zoe, Michael, her group of friends and before she knew what happened she kicked him in the face knocking him down to the ground again.

"Amy?" Michael called out, flinching in pain as he slowly raised himself up on his elbows.

"Michael?" she said turning around and going over to him, "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," he said, reaching up touching her cheek, "I'm fine now."

The girl gave him a half-smile, both turning back to look at the groaning boy, who emitted a growl trying to get up.

"Amy?" Emily called out, rushing in through the back door taking in the scene, "Oh thank God. Are you two ok?"

"We're fine," Amy answered, helping Michael sit up, "But you might want to call an ambulance for him."

Emily let out a sighed relief before going over to Ryan, "Get up."

The boy wriggled as he sat up, glaring at the woman he snickered while Emily placed her handcuffs on him.

"Emily?" Hotch called out, "Amy?"

The trio looked up as the front door opened.

* * *

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does." William James


	19. Sympathy For The Devil

"If at first you don't succeed try, try, try again." William E. Hickson

* * *

"Amy!" Hotch called outside racing in through the front door, "Emily?"

"We're in here," Amy called out, while Emily came out of the kitchen holding an ice pack in her hand. Both parents had anxiety written across their faces, "We're ok."

Emily kneeled down placing the ice pack on the back of Michael's head, while Ryan glared at the male FBI agent. He was struggling against the table that Emily handcuffed him to.

"Who is that?" Hotch asked narrowing his eyes at the restrained boy, "Is that... Ryan Manning?"

"Yeah," Michael winced out, sitting up with the help of Amy and Emily, "He confessed to everything."

"He killed Zoe," Amy added, glaring at the other boy while Hotch kneeled down beside the injured suspect.

"Who, uh, did this?" Hotch asked, looking at the others.

"That would be me," she admitted, wondering if she'd get another lecture despite the fact that this time she saved two lives.

"HOTCH!" JJ cried out as she and Morgan rushed into the disarray of the home. The blonde paused taking in the scene, "Jesus."

"Morgan, help me get him up," he said undoing the handcuffs to the table. Both male agents grunting as they got Ryan to his feet.

Hotch, keeping a firm, tighten the grip on their unsub allowed Morgan to redo the handcuffs on Ryan, the agent taking glee when the Manning boy winced at the rough pull on his arm.

"Watch it, will you?" Ryan gripped out, "I regret nothing."

"Tell it to the judge," Morgan grumbled, keeping a firm but hard hand on Ryan's bad shoulder

"JJ, can you go with Emily and help take Michael and Amy down to ambulance while Morgan and I escort Mr. Manning here to the back of the squad car?" he asked, while Morgan wrenched over giving the younger man a glare.

"Sure thing," she answered, helping Michael up while the two women led the boy outside with Amy following close behind.

"Amy?" Ryan called out, but the girl felt Emily wrap an arm around her as they continued out of the house, "Amy!"

"Shut up," Morgan grumbled, pulling on the handcuffs making Ryan wince, "You have the right to remain silent."

"I know my rights," Ryan said, turning his icy glare on Amy's father, "And if you want answers, then I want something in return."

"Not going to happen," Hotch clipped out, grabbing ahold of Ryan's other elbow, "We've already got everything we need. We'll see you down at the precinct."

Amy sat in the waiting room, picking at her nails while she awaited news about Michael. She jumped when she felt a warm hand land on her own.

"You keep doing that and you're going to have nails like mine," Emily lightly teased, watching as the brunette girl pull her hoodie sleeves down covering her hands, "Michael's going to be all right."

"We don't know that for sure," Amy sighed, "This is all my fault."

"No it's not. Look at me," Emily firmly said, grasping on to Amy chin, "Like I told you before, none of this is your fault."

"Yes it is," Amy said, tears welling up in her dark eyes, "If I hadn't gone looking into my past, none of this would be happening. I brought this on everyone."

"The only person's whose fault this is, is Ryan" Emily told her, removing her hand from the girl, "You know that no one person is responsible for the actions of others. Ryan, or whatever his name is, is responsible for his own choices just like everybody else."

"Then why does it feel like it's my fault?" Amy asked, rubbing her sleeved arm across her face.

"Because you have the biggest heart out of anybody I've ever met," Emily told her, "This may have been about you, but this wasn't really about you. I don't know if Ryan's mentally ill or not, but he has his own issues that he needs to work on. But whatever his problems are, they're his not yours."

"I know that deep down," she cleared her throat, "I just wish that none of this happened."

"We all do," Emily murmured, moving a loose strand of Amy's hair behind her ear, "Come here."

Emily let the girl fall into a warm embrace, both worn out from the events of the day and needed the comforting arms of each other.

"Agent Prentiss?" a female nurse called out, "You brought in Michael Ford?"

"Yes," Emily said, standing up while Amy nervously fiddled with her fingers, "How is he?"

"Can we see him?" Amy impatiently interrupted.

"I'm not at liberty to discuss this without Michael's parents or legal guardian," the nurse replied.

"His parents are on the way," JJ said, coming over holding up her black iPhone, "I have Mr. Ford on the phone and he's given explicit instructions to tell Agent Prentiss and Agent Hotchner about his son's condition until his arrival."

"Very well," the nurse said, "Michael has a slight concussion and a few fractured ribs. His right arm's being splinted as a precaution, he may have a hairline fracture but we can't really be sure."

"Can we see him?" Amy repeated. Her need to make sure that he was really fine outweighed her usual good manners.

"Just for a little while, we'd like to keep him overnight," the older nurse informed them, "He's down the hall, room 213."

Amy pursed her lips as she looked over at her mother who nodded, "Go ahead, I'll be there in a minute."

"Thanks," she said, hurrying down the hall while Emily stayed behind with JJ.

"I just got off the phone with Will," JJ paused, looking over at the brunette beside her, "They think Cartwright fled the city."

"Any idea where to?" the brunette sighed, sinking into the waiting chair.

"Not sure, Canada most likely," she answered, "Definitely not Detroit. They talked with his ex-wife, Cynthia, he doesn't have a brother named Robert."

"He was an only child," she surmised, "Amy gave me a partial statement when we were waiting for the doctors. Ryan set Cartwright up."

"Yeah," JJ said, "But that still doesn't make Cartwright innocent either. He was following Amy around. Those pictures we found at his home? His prints were all over him."

"Jesus," Emily murmured, burying her face in her hands, "As if she didn't feel guilty before, this will add to it."

JJ turned to her friend, "You need to remind her that she had nothing to do with this. If Manning hadn't picked her, it would have been someone else. At least this way we're involved now."

"I know, I just hate that this came at the expense of her happiness and her friends." Emily said, "As if their aren't already enough sick people in this world, some sixteen year old freak targeted my daughter."

"No one really knows what goes on in a person's mind," JJ offered, "Why one person behaves one way, while another chooses a different path."

"I told you, Amy, I'm fine," Michael assured her, "Besides don't you think this makes me look tough? Like I'm Jason Statham or something?"

Amy rolled her eyes at that, "You really don't blame me? Not even a little?"

"Well I'll blame you now if you don't loosen that grip on my left hand," Michael joked, "I don't want to be completely disabled before going back to school."

"Michael," Amy chastised, "I'm serious."

"So am I," he sighed, "Amy, I know that you have this weird thing that makes you believe that you're responsible for everything that happened, but you're not. I know your mother told you, and I'm pretty sure your dad will too."

He watched as she bit her lower lip, "Hey, you need to stop this."

"What?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Stop blaming yourself," he told her, "You know that was never really about you, right? It's obvious that Ryan's disturbed."

"Yep," Amy sarcastically remarked, "I sure know how to draw the crazies to me, Ryan and Cartwright..."

"Hey," Michael said, grabbing ahold of her hand while his injured one carefully pulled himself up on the hospital bed's railings, "I know where your mind is going and it needs to stop. You need to stop turning yourself into some martyr, Amy. You're only human, same as anyone else. Ryan and Cartwright, they're responsible for their own choices. Ryan's a freak and Cartwright, whatever his deal was that's on him, on both of them. Not you. So get that look off your pretty face, ok?"

"Did anyone ever tell you that you're really annoying?" Amy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not today," Michael smirked, "Admit it, I'm right."

Amy scoffed, "There is no way in hell, I'll ever admit that you're right."

The girl turned to the door, hearing a knock on the wooden door, "Must be Mom or your doctor to kick us out," she stood up, "Come in."

Both teenagers in shock when the door opened, "Shit."

"You know as soon as Garcia's able to, she's going to be down here armed to the tee with presents for Amy," JJ wryly said, giving the brunette a sideways glance, "Em, you ok?"

"No," she emphatically replied, "I'm having visions of my house overflowing with glitter and purple unicorns."

JJ doubled over in laughter, "Phew, you had me worried there for a minute."

Emily shrugged, "Just waiting until it's your turn for Garcia to spoil Henry, and any other future little LaMontagne's coming."

The blonde stopped dead in her tracks, within a finger reach of Michael's room, "What makes you think that we're even thinking about having another baby?"

"Intuition," Emily said, watching as medical staff in scrubs passed them, "Besides, don't you want to have more children?"

"Well don't you want to?" JJ asked, trying to deflect the questioning from her only for a pained look to cross Emily's face, "Oh, did I say something wrong?"

"Not really," Emily paused taking a deep breath, "We had talked about having more kids, but you know with everything..."

"What, because of what happened with Amy?" JJ asked, wanting to know how she could help her friends.

"And Jack," Emily added, "He just hasn't been himself since school started."

"What has Hotch said about this?" the blonde inquired.

"We haven't really talked about it since all this started," she gestured wildly, "I mean we haven't even had a minute to breath since we got Amy back."

"You two need to sit down together and talk," JJ said observantly, "Not just about having more children, or the two that you already have but you need to talk about yourselves."

"I know," she sighed, slowly continuing down the hallway, "We've been so focused on getting Amy back, that we've drifted apart."

"You still love him, don't you?" JJ asked, "You want to be together, right?"

"Of course," Emily stopped, turning to her younger friend, "Our being together was never the issue, we just haven't had much time together lately."

"I hear that," JJ murmured, "That's how it was with Will and I before we got married. You know with work always getting in the way, and our focusing solely on Henry, we let ourselves come last."

"So short of running off and eloping, what do I do?" Emily asked.

"You two need to take a weekend just for yourselves to get reacquainted," JJ instructed her, "Do things together, and not just in the bedroom."

Emily wryly chuckled at that, "Oh believe me the bedroom is the one place we don't have a problem."

"Ew, thanks for the mental picture," JJ shudder, "Do activities together, not just with Jack and Amy, but things by yourselves. Like go out to dinner and dance, go for a walk in the park or a hike, just as long as you're together. And don't worry about the kids, Will and I would love to take them for a weekend."

The brunette smiled at, "Thanks JJ, it really. This means a lot to me."

"Hey," the blonde playfully hit her friend on the arm, "You'd do the same for me."

As the two women continued down the hall, they could see hospital security running from the opposite direction towards a room. But the loud banging and clanging make the two agents realize that they know which room it's coming from.

"That's Michael's room," JJ said as they picked up speed, stopping at the opened door, "What the hell is going on here?"

"This," Amy grunted, digging her knee into the back of the person below her, "Is a citizen's arrest. Mom, you want to do the honors?"

Emily walked into the room, noticing that Michael was trying to lift himself off the floor, while Amy pulled the man beneath her up with Emily's help.

"James Cartwright, your under arrest," Emily started, watching as the security guards along with JJ escorted the escaped man out, "JJ?"

"Yeah?" the blonde paused, stopping with her arm firmly held on the restrained man.

"Thank you," she said, giving her friend a relieved smile.

"Anytime," the blonde replied, trailing after the hulking guards out of the room with the silent man.

Emily turned around focusing her attention on the two children who needed her the most.

"How are you?" Emily asked Amy and Michael, "I think I should get a nurse..."

At that moment, an elderly nurse and Hotch quickly came into the room, "Thank God you're both all right."

"Yeah, I'm fine too," Michael sarcastically replied, watching both parents look at him, "Kidding, I'm kidding. Did my parents get called?"

"Yeah," Emily assured him wrapping her arms around Amy's shoulders, "They're on their way, their stuck in some board meeting."

"Great," the boy muttered, wincing when the nurse readjusted his I.V., "Ouch."

"Sorry," the nurse apologized.

"It's fine," Michael said, "I really didn't need two good arms."

"Michael," Amy said, taking his hand not noticing the look her parents shared at the sight of the two of them, "Shh."

The girl took the seat next to the hospital bed murmuring comforting words to her boyfriend, Hotch though not pleased his only daughter has a boyfriend could appreciate the care and concern this boy had shown to Amy the past few days ever since she had returned. Not only had he sat beside her hospital bed for two days but he threw two reporters out of her hospital room.

He'd never admit it, but this was someone he wouldn't mind seeing with his daughter, if she were old enough to date in his book. Hotch chuckled lightly at that. Emily tilted her head to look at him.

"What's so funny?" she whispered, not wanting to disturb the younger couple. She maneuvered them towards the doorway mindful to keep an eye on the two kids, "Aaron?"

His dark eyes searched her own, and saw what he had felt for the first time in a long time, relief. Relief that Amy was fine, Michael was going to be fine, and they had caught their daughter's tormentors.

"I feel like a big weight has been lifted off my chest," he quietly admitted, "You know, like everything is finally right in the world."

"I know what you mean," she sighed resting her head against his chest, a warm feeling passing between them as he wrapped his arms around her, "It's like we're finally free. Free to be happy."

"Free to be us," he added quietly, lifting her chin up, "I'm so sorry for... for everything."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Emily told him, "We both know that where Ryan was concerned this had nothing to do with Amy, and as for Cartwright..."

"Let's not even think about him," Hotch growled, "He's lucky he's in lock up now. If I had my hands on him..."

"Uh, Mom?" Amy said, drawing the two's attention towards her, "Dad?"

"Yeah sweetie?" Emily asked turning in Hotch's arms, his hold never leaving hers. It seemed a clear indication that he wanted his family within arms reach.

"Carter... Cartwright," the girl corrected, "His showing up, that's not going to effect the adoption, is it?"

Both dark-haired agents were surprised by that. It hadn't occurred to either of them that James Cartwright's sudden appearance could put a cramp in their finalizing their adoption of Amy.

"No. Absolutely not," Hotch adamantly stated, "Even if he hadn't been arrested, he missed the deadline when we sent out the official papers for him to contest the adoption. Believe me when I tell you, that there is no way that this adoption won't be stopped."

"Promise?" Amy asked, looking from Hotch to Emily.

"That's a promise," Emily assured her.

The relieved parents were pulled into a group hug, safe in the knowledge that everything was content in their world for now.

* * *

"Don't change so people will like you. Be yourself and the right people will love the real you." Mastin Kipp


	20. Sweet Child O' Mine

"Some people think to be strong is to never feel pain. In reality it's the strongest people who feel it, understand it, and accept it." Author Unknown

* * *

Amy rubbed her hands together as she kneeled down on the grass. Removing the glove from her hand, she lightly traced over the engraved name on the marbled headstone.

"I really miss you," she murmured lightly, picking up the yellow daisy and placing on top of the headstone.

As the brunette took a deep breath, she paused hearing the crunching of leaves under booted feet. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was. For some reason, it didn't surprise her either.

"Amy?" the low voice softly murmured, watching as the silent girl stood up, shoving her hands into her coat pocket.

Turning around, Amy sniffled lightly before looking Ashley in the eye.

"I know I'm probably the last person you want to see," Ashley started, her gaze going down to the fresh grave, "I know you have a lot of other important things on your mind..."

"What do you want?" Amy asked, not bothering to care how she sounded at the moment.

"I'm sorry," she said, focusing her attention on her former friend, "For your loss, about Zoe."

"Me too," she deadpanned, "Me too."

"Uh," Ashley cleared her throat, "How are you doing?"

The look that the grieving girl shot her onetime friend told her exactly how she felt, then switched her gaze back to the headstone.

"Stupid question, I guess," Ashley muttered, "Do you want to go somewhere and talk about it?"

Amy's head turned back to girl, "With who, you?"

"Well, yeah" Ashley said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Amy turned fully around facing the other girl, "You see that girl right there?" she pointed to the freshly replanted grass, "She was a real friend, my real best friend."

"I..." Ashley started, only to be cut off by Amy.

"Zoe is... _was_ , my friend and I abandoned her for someone like you," Amy sighed, "God, what the hell was wrong with me?"

"We're best friends, Amy," Ashley protested, "Friends fight all the time. Besides it's not like it was even my fault, it was that freak Ryan's fault. He made this happen with his lies and schemes."

"That you _chose_ to believe," Amy pointed out, "And that's beside the point, you chose to believe that I would or even could do something so shady behind your back. That's what hurts the most."

"But," Ashley paused, "It wasn't just my fault, Ames. You were pulling away from me. Zoe forgave you, can't you forgive and forget so that we could start over?"

"No," Amy told her shaking her head, "I want to forgive you, but I can never forget those words. Those words can never be taken back."

Amy, shocked by her own admission, stood strong taking a breath, "You know when I took off, I had a lot of time to think. Not just about my family drama but about my friends and everything..."

The girl paced back and forth beside the grave, before focusing her attention on the silent girl before her, "And I've made a decision."

"And what's that?" Ashley demanded folding her arms across her chest, annoyed that things weren't going her way.

"I think we need to take sometime a part," Amy started, taking a deep breath.

"What?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows, "You don't want to be my friend anymore?"

Amy halted her pacing, turning back around, "It's not just us, it's all of us. We all need to take sometime away from each other," rubbing her gloved hands together, "Chelsea and Lily too."

"What?" Ashley gasped dumbfounded, "Why the hell would the most popular girls stop being friends? That makes no sense."

Amy resisted rolling her eyes, "Because we're not getting along, all of us. Whether you believe it or not, this will help us all in the end."

"Look maybe you don't like being popular but I happen to like the way things are," Ashley emphasized, "And I'm not changing just to suit one person."

Amy raised her hands in defeat, "Do whatever you want, but know that I'm giving you _my_ reasons about why we can't be friends now."

"Fine, don't come complaining or begging me to take you back when you realize you've banished yourself to Hell," Ashley told her turning on her heel stomping away from Amy.

Amy turned her attention back to the grave, leaning forward she pressed the palm of her gloved hand against the cold stone, "I'll miss you forever, Zee."

Amy nervously stood on the front steps of her school. She hadn't been back to this place in three weeks. Not like it had even been her choice, her parents wanted her to heal emotionally as well as physically.

Three weeks can change a lot of things. For instance, she had not once heard from any of her so-called friends, but that could have been Ashley's doing after telling her that they all needed a break. So she wasn't really surprised.

But what did surprise her was that she hadn't heard from Michael, not even once.

The first few days after returning home, she decided along with her parents to stick close to home, and Michael had called but the next week, nothing. She wondered if her parents had said something to dissuade the boy from calling, but both Hotch and Emily were adamant that they had not.

While she pondered over that piece of information she looked up at the steps and wondered should she just turn around and head home like that whispering voice of doubt told her to? Emily told her that it was better to face everyone then to turn around and run.

Amy thought she had seen something reminiscent in Emily when she told her to keep her head held high, but she shrugged it off for now.

Hearing the final bell ring, she quietly walked up the steps heading to her first class of the day, praying that the day would go by quickly and she would be unnoticed.

Any hope of being the wallflower died the second Amy stepped into home room. Though Ms. Forrester tried to quickly dispel the situation, the fifteen year old girl didn't need to be a paranoid to know that her classmates were sneaking glances at her. Nor did it escape her attention that Zach and his friends were snickering at her while she kept her nose buried in the textbook in front of her.

What hurt the most was the looks that Chelsea had shot her when their teacher was writing on the board. For as long as she known the other girl, Amy never knew her to be outright hurtful. But the look of contempt and spite on her face hurt more than she cared to admit.

Though Amy at one time considered Ashley her best friend, Chelsea was the most compassionate one of their group. And for her to shoot that look to Amy, that made the girl wonder just how much she was now despised at this school.

Hearing the bell ring combined with the chatter of her classmates, Amy hurried out of the room towards her next class.

All day long the girl felt as though everyone were staring at her, she had initially thought it was just paranoia but the fervent whispers and smirks she received from people made her want to run and hide. She trudge along begrudgingly to the cafeteria in silence. As she stood in line she felt students bumping into her making her wish that she could go back to Parks Academy.

 _'At least there I knew who hated me,'_ she thought bitterly picking up a tray, grabbing whatever passed by her without paying attention.

As she reached over for a carton of milk she felt a hand land on the lower part of her back causing her jump at the cool touch.

"Sorry," Michael murmured, watching as Amy quietly grabbed her milk then move down towards the potato chips, "Amy?"

"Don't worry about it," she muttered, moving the tray further down to pay for her lunch, "I'll be out of your hair in ten seconds."

He paused standing there, not caring that he was holding up the hungry students behind him, "Amy?"

"I said I've got it," she hissed louder, as she passed the cafeteria lady her money she picked up her tray and moved away from Michael to an empty table, "Of course."

Sitting silently at the table, she toyed with the bag of chips she really wasn't hungry for and ate. Amy was startled when a text book dropped on the table beside her, flinching she looked up and resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"I don't know what's gotten into you, but I want to know one thing," Michael said taking a seat on the bench beside her, "Are you dumping me?"

"No," she said confused, "Why would I dump someone whose already dumped me?"

The boy scrunched up his face in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about that you haven't called me in two weeks," Amy started slowly, gathering her books, "How you've avoided my calls like I'm a solicitor or how you totally blew off meeting me in the front of the school like we've done since I joined this school. That's what I'm talking about," taking a pregnant pause, "You know what? Save it, I'm obviously too clueless to realize you're the one who ended things, and you hate me like every other person in this school does."

As she picked up her books ready to leave, Michael placed a hand on her wrists, "Stop."

"Amy, I didn't dump you," he whispered, "To me, nothing has changed between us."

"Then why haven't you called or answered my calls?" she asked, turning her dark gaze on him, "Because it feels like you ended things."

"I thought you needed space," he started, licking his lower lip, "You know, sometime to breathe. I honestly didn't know that my not being there would hurt you."

Amy turned her gaze down towards her books, "You were the one person I needed the most, because you know me better than anyone other than Zoe did."

"Amy," he whispered, "I am so sorry, really I am. Please..."

"Well look at what we've got here," Zach teased, coming up to the table with a small group of his friends. Friends that Amy use to call her own, "Isn't this cozy, the runaway and her bruised boyfriend."

Michael arose from his seat, his dark gaze settled on his friend, "Knock it off, Zach."

"Did I say something to offend you?" Zach smirked looking down at the ace bandage, "How's the hand healing up? Now remind me, was it sprained when you were fighting Ryan or that creepy counselor? Huh?"

Zach clenched the fist of his good hand, "I'm not even going to warn you man, back off."

"But... but I'm only stating the facts," Zach said, garnering attention from the entire cafeteria, "Oh, that's right I'm not."

"Michael, let's just go," Amy said, standing up, "The atmosphere isn't very appealing in here."

"Running away again?" Zach scoffed, "Yeah, that's something you're good at, huh? Along with attracting psychos and getting your friends killed," looking at Michael, "Or nearly killed."

Before anyone knew it, a fist pounded into the tormentor's face, both Amy and Michael looked over to the very angry girl standing in front of her onetime boyfriend.

"Damn it, Ash," Zach said, his hand instantly going to the swelling of his now bleeding nose, "You know prom photo's are coming up."

"Well now you and Kaitlin can wear matching crimson red," Ashley hissed out, shaking her aching hand, "I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth. Not about Michael, Amy or about my mother's personal objects. You got me?"

When the boy failed to answer the angry girl, she raised her fist up ready to attack again, when Amy touched her arm.

"He's not worth it," Amy told her, giving her former friend a grateful look.

"Ashley!" Principal McCall called out, "You and Zach, my office now."

Amy felt a weight lift off her shoulders when Ashley gave her small smile with an acknowledging nod before leaving the cafeteria with the humiliated boy trailing after her and the principal.

Michael wrapped a tender arm around, "I promise no one will ever hurt you again, not while I'm around."

Amy turned into his touch, his warm and genuine smile made her heart soar, "I believe you."

Taking his hand as the last bell rang, "Let's get to class."

After the final bell rang, signaling the end of school the young couple silently made their way to the elementary grade level of their school.

"Ok so are you sure about this?" Michael asked Amy, the duo leaning against a tree waiting for Jack's classroom door to open.

"Eh," she shrugged, "What's the worst that they'll give me, detention?"

The boy chuckled at that, "So how's Jack been doing?"

"The same as usual," she replied, "Quiet when it involves school."

Michael pursed his lips, "Huh, he hasn't said anything about... I don't know, maybe someone bothering him?"

Amy paused at that, "You mean a bully?" seeing Michael nod at that, she frowned, "Well I know he had a problem at his last school a year or so ago, but then again if he's being bullied here he wouldn't say anything now would he?"

"No," Michael said, "But I do remember that when I was about his age I use to get picked on a couple of times but when my brother Tommy found out, he put an end to that."

Amy furrowed her eyebrows, "You really think that he's being bullied?"

Michael shrugged his shoulders, "Doesn't hurt to check it out."

The second bell rang, signaling the end of the younger grades schooling startled the brunette into keeping her eyes peeled out for her brother. Amy smiled when she felt Michael link his fingers of his good hand with her own.

"They're coming out," Michael whispered watching as her eyes glanced over to the now opened door.

As they watched child after child departing the class, Amy's eyes never wavered from the door anxiously awaiting when Jack would come out.

"Where the heck is Jack?" Amy asked, watching a few of the younger children converging by the wall laughing.

"Maybe he's grabbing his homework?" Michael offered, his eyes trailing over to small group.

"Loser. Loser. You're a stinky old loser!" a group of children tauntingly called out.

"God, this reminds me why I hated the third grade," Amy heard her boyfriend murmur sympathetically.

"You and me both," Amy admitted, squeezing his hand tightly.

Both halting dead in their tracks when they realize that the taunts were directed at Jack, though that hadn't been a surprise what did come as a shock was the people behind the taunts. A group of little girls.

The girl who did seem to be the ring leader of the tormentors moved forward, shoving Jack on to the grass. Amy moved forward, ready to protect her brother at whatever cost but Michael grabbed her arm, shaking his head.

"What?" she asked, anger coursing through her veins.

"Now you know why he hasn't fought back," Michael pointed out, nodding in the children's direction.

It dawned on her, Jack was exactly like their father. Chivalrous, ever the gentleman. He'd never raise a hand at anyone, let alone a girl.

While Jack gathered up his fallen items, he looked up to the little blonde tormentor with a wistful look on his face, that's when it clicked for Amy.

"Oh. My. God," she muttered, turning to Michael, "He has a crush on her."

"Yep," he nodded in agreement, "It makes a little sense now."

While Jack tried to put his belongings back into his bag, the girls continued to tease and taunt him, and despite turning the other cheek with Ashley, Amy couldn't allow the same to happen with her brother.

Storming over to the small group, she bent down picking up the discarded notebook and pencils, handing them to Jack she pierced his dark gaze. Without knowing it, she knew that Jack was embarrassed about being found out that he was being bullied by a girl.

The sister turned her heated glare upon the blonde girl, burrowing down to her level and leaned in whispering into the child's ear.

Michael quickly moved over, worried that a new fight was about to start out when the tormentor backed away slowly and rushed off to the other side of the school.

"Amy?" Jack's soft voice called out, his stuff now ready to go, "Come on."

The trio walked over to the parking lot, each silent in their own thoughts before reaching her mother's car, Amy turned to Michael.

"We'll see you Saturday, right?" she asked, pursing her lips.

"Of course," he assured her, leaning in giving her a soft and tender kiss before turning towards his awaiting parents car.

"Amy?" Jack quietly called out to her, tugging on her bag, "You're not gonna tell Mom, are you?"

"You mean about..." she trailed off, she shook her head, "No."

"Good," he exhaled at that.

"You are," she finished watching as the boy's face paled at the thought, "Jack, Mom and Dad have been worried about you these past few weeks."

"I know," he muttered.

"Hey, look at me," Amy kneeled in front of her brother, "I know that falling for someone the first time makes you act crazy, believe me, I know. But that girl..."

"Katie," Jack told her.

"Katie," she corrected, "If she's teasing you, being mean then she doesn't deserve someone as amazing as you to like her."

Jack trained his eyes on the ground, "How do you know if they're the right one?"

"Huh," Amy kneeled down in front of her brother, "It's a little hard to explain, but sometimes you just know. There are a few guys and sometimes girls that are mean to the people who they have crushes on..."

At the puzzled expression on his face, she sighed, "But the way that Katie's behaving? It's not right..."

"Maybe she's being mean because she likes me?" he offered.

"Jack," Amy lightly whispered, "She's probably not a happy girl, and I think that the way she's acting only shows that she's not ready for anyone especially not now."

"Oh," he murmured, "Do you think someday she'll like me?"

"I hope so," she told him, internally rolling her eyes. If she had it her way, that girl would be locked up until she was at least hitting retirement age, "I hope so. Now come on, Mom's waiting for us."

"Therefore it is with great pleasure that we officially can sign off on this adoption," Judge Palmer said, signing off on the legal document, "Congratulations Amy."

"Thank you," the young brunette said, looking up at the smiling faces of her parents who were both signing the adoption papers.

"Oh one more thing," Palmer said, looking to his stenographer, "Off the record, April." the older woman nodded, getting up and leaving the chambers, "This was sent by James Cartwright's attorney,"

The older official passed the thick manila envelope to Hotch, "After signing away his rights, he asked his attorney to pass this along to the court since you know there was that temporary restraining order in effect."

Hotch stared down at the envelope in his hands, "Thank you."

As the family of three walked out of the chambers Amy stopped, slowly turning around, her eyes instantly going to the envelope. She felt as though he were still haunting her, even from prison.

"Do you want it?" Emily asked, her heart pounding.

"No," she answered, shaking her head, "There is nothing in there that I need to hear."

Amy took the envelope from Hotch and ripped it into two pieces then threw it in a trash can outside the door, "I'm ready to go home now."

"Come on sweetie," Emily offered her hand to her now legal daughter, "There's something you need to see."

The three walked down the marble hallway of the large court house bypassing security to a massive crowd.

"Congratulations!" the team cheered, clapping while Morgan loudly whistled.

Amy turned back to look at her parents while Jack ran from the smiling Jessica's arms rushing to his sister, hugging her knees, "You're really my sister now?"

"Yep kiddo," Amy chuckled kneeling in front of the brother she'd always wanted, "Looks like you're stuck with me now."

"Well I hope that goes for me too," a voice echoed out, causing the girl to pause as she looked up.

As the team, her family, parted Michael passed by the two giddy blondes, both wearing matching smiles as the young man walked to his girlfriend.

Amy turned her dark head to her parents, "Does this mean..."

Emily nodded, nudging Hotch in the ribs who put on a terse smile on his face, "Of course, just as long as you two are happy."

The brunette girl's smile melted the hearts of the women in the room but each of the men kept a keen eye on Michael, ready for whatever happens next.

As Michael and Amy embraced, Emily laid her head on Hotch's shoulder their hands finding their way to each other.

"Don't worry Aaron," she murmured to him, "They'll be fine, after all she is a Hotchner."

"Prentiss-Hotchner," he corrected, wrapping his arm around her, "Besides it's only puppy love, right?"

Emily pursed her lip, looking away at the three blondes. None of the women willing to tell him that first loves were always the most important in a girl's life.

"Sure," she placated him, why break his heart when he seemed so happy, "Sure."

"Hmm," he hummed.

As they depart the court house, each ready for a new chapter in their life, a sense of peace and calm fell over the family of four knowing that the past was finally at rest for them and the unknown future lie ahead of them, one that they now can face with hope, together.

* * *

"Other things may change us, but we start and end with family." Anthony Brandt


End file.
